Utilization of Carbon Nanotubes in Manufacturing of 3D Cartilage and Bone Scaffolds

Cartilage and bone injuries are prevalent ailments, affecting the quality of life of injured patients. Current methods of treatment are often imperfect and pose the risk of complications in the long term. Therefore, tissue engineering is a rapidly developing branch of science, which aims at discovering effective ways of replacing or repairing damaged tissues with the use of scaffolds. However, both cartilage and bone owe their exceptional mechanical properties to their complex ultrastructure, which is very difficult to reproduce artificially. To address this issue, nanotechnology was employed. One of the most promising nanomaterials in this respect is carbon nanotubes, due to their exceptional physico-chemical properties, which are similar to collagens—the main component of the extracellular matrix of these tissues. This review covers the important aspects of 3D scaffold development and sums up the existing research tackling the challenges of scaffold design. Moreover, carbon nanotubes-reinforced bone and cartilage scaffolds manufactured using the 3D bioprinting technique will be discussed as a novel tool that could facilitate the achievement of more biomimetic structures

Family - Health - Disease

Preface: "The family is the basic social cell and a person’s closest environment; it plays the dominant non-medical role in shaping health as it is the primary source of knowledge about nutrition, life-style and disease prevention. The family may determine both healthy habits and anti-health behaviors; it influences the entire duration of a person’s life. It is important to emphasize the extremely significant role of the family in providing care, supporting treatment processes, and giving company to an ill family member."(...

Traditional Food Products—Between Place Marketing, Economic Importance and Sustainable Development

The aim of this paper is to link the economic and marketing perspectives by means of the quantitative method to answer the question of whether traditional food products may play an important role in sustainable region development ensuring economic viability, and how (if at all) marketing should support this process. Due to the lack of unambiguous theoretical findings—the theory has not established a model of the impact of regional products on the food sector in the region and, further on, the economy—an atheoretical approach should be applied, which without priori findings (without favouring individual variable) will lead to an assessment of the above-described impact. Using the Bayesian approach, the authors have measured the above relations with respect to the case of Poland. The basis of the study is provided by a database developed by the authors for 16 Polish NUTS2 regions where lists of official traditional food products were compiled. Using the chosen method, a group of explanatory variables has been proposed (among them, a number of regional products) as factors potentially responsible for the dependent variable (value of agriculture production in the NUTS2 regions). The results indicate that the number of traditional food products does not determine the value of agricultural production on the level of the NUTS2 regions in Poland. This value is determined by commodity production rather than the factors of the so-called sustainable agriculture

Comparing the outcome of nervous-muscular agitation before and after carpal tunnel release

Wstęp. Najskuteczniejszą formą leczenia ZKN jest zabieg operacyjny. Daje on pacjentowi natychmiastową i, co najważniejsze, długotrwałą poprawę, a nawet całkowite ustąpienie charakterystycznych i uciążliwych objawów towarzyszących temu zespołowi. Jedną z metod pozwalającą na monitorowanie przebiegu procesu reinerwacji i rehabilitacji po urazach nerwów obwodowych jest wykreślenie krzywej i/t. Celem pracy była próba odpowiedzi na pytanie czy krzywa i/t jest wystarczająco czułą metodą do oceny zmian pobudliwości nerwowo-mięśniowej u pacjentów leczonych z powodu z ZKN? Materiał i metoda badań. Badaniami objęto 88 chorych (107 rąk): 70 kobiet (86 rąk) i 18 mężczyzn (21 rąk) w wieku pomiędzy 25 a 77 rokiem życia (średnio 54,4 lata). Wyniki. Leczenie operacyjne połączone z wczesną pooperacyjną rehabilitacją dało statystycznie znamienną poprawę: subiektywnej oceny nasilenia dolegliwości, stanu funkcjonalnego ręki oraz wartości parametrów elektrodiagnostycznych, tj. natężenia prądu dla impulsów trójkątnych o czasie trwania 100 ms, chronaksji, ilorazu akomodacji. Wnioski. Zmiany kształtu krzywej i/t u pacjentów z ZKN poddanych leczeniu operacyjnemu są nieznaczne. Zmiany kształtu krzywej i/t są związane ze zmianami tylko dwóch parametrów: chronaksji oraz natężenia prądu ocenianego dla impulsów trójkątnych o czasie trwania 100 ms. Iloraz akomodacji jest przydatnym parametrem, który może posłużyć do „uchwycenia” zmian pobudliwości nerwowo-mięśniowej po zastosowanym leczeniu. U pacjentów z łagodnym ZKN istnieje potrzeba rozszerzenia schematu badania o ocenę pobudliwości czuciowej. Istnieje wysoka korelacja pomiędzy zmianami wartości ilorazu akomodacji a subiektywnymi zmianami stanu funkcjonalnego u pacjentów z ciężkim ZKN.Introduction. According to literature surgical decompression is believed the most effective aspect of the management of carpal tunnel syndrome. It results in immediate relief of strenuous symptoms of this entity. This in turn enables operated patients return to normal functioning including everyday life and occupational activity. Material and method. The aim of this article is comparing the outcome of nervous – muscular agitation before and after carpal tunnel release obtained through the use of the i/t curve. The study group included 88 patients (107 upper limbs): 70 females (86 hands) and 18 males (21 hands) aged 25 to 77 years (average 54,4 years). Results. Statistically significant improvement was noted in following clinical aspects of CTS: subjective complaints (Levine scores), functional dexterity of affected hand (Levine scores), value of nervous – muscular agitation obtained through the use of the triangular impulse timp 100 ms, chronotaxy, accommodation quotient. Conclusion. Changes in the shape of the i/t curve in patients with CTS after surgical treatment are slight. Differences between pre and postoperative treatment are present in the values of nervous – muscular agitation obtained through the use of the triangular impulse timp 100 ms and chronaxy. Accommodation quotient is a valuable parameter which can be used to ‘record’ changes in neuromuscular excitation after applied treatment. The extension of the test using the i/t curve to include the analysis of sensor excitability can help especially in patient with mild CTS. There are high correlation among changes of value of accommodation quotient and the subjective changes of functional state at patients with severe carpal tunnel syndrome

Enrichment of Different Plant Seeds with Zinc and Assessment of Health Risk of Zn-Fortified Sprouts Consumption

Zinc (Zn) is a nutrient that regulates many vital functions of the human body, hence the demand for Zn in the balanced daily nutrition has to be covered. Priming of seeds with Zn for Zn-enriched sprout production can be considered a good alternative to artificial supplementation in a modern diet. Hence, the aim of our study was to determine the exposure level of Zn bringing neither risk for humans nor growth inhibition of enriched broccoli, pea and sunflower sprouts. Seeds treated with 0, 10, 20 and 30 μg mL−1 ZnSO4 responded in a differentiated way to Zn. Pea seed germination and sprout growth was diminished by 30 μg mL−1 ZnSO4, but for sunflower sprouts this Zn level resulted in the highest fresh mass and largest hypocotyls. Zn content in sprouts greatly increased in a dose-dependent manner, mostly in broccoli (up to 25 times) and peas (up to 4 times), and to a lesser extent (up to 120%) for sunflowers. Free radical scavenging activity was usually decreased. Considering the potential non-carcinogenic risk of sprouts consumption estimated by the hazard analysis, the safest exposure level for seed priming will be 10 μg mL−1 ZnSO4. It was confirmed by random amplification of polymorphic DNA analyses indicating no DNA variations in sprouts treated with 10 μg mL−1 ZnSO4 compared to the control

Influence of Chlorhexidine and Cetylpyridine on Periodontal Status and Indicators of Oxidative Stress in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes

Objective: One of the treatment goals in type 1 diabetes and periodontitis is to address chronic inflammation to prevent the development of neurovascular complications. The aim of this study was to assess the local anti-inflammatory effects of chlorhexidine digluconate and cetylpyridine chloride on periodontal status and indicators of oxidative stress in saliva in patients with type 1 diabetes. Materials and Methods: A total of 42 subjects aged 27 (interquartile range, IQR 22–35) years, with type 1 diabetes for a duration of 12 (IQR 9–18) years, and glycated hemoglobin 8.05 (IQR 7.1–9.4)% were included. Patients were examined twice—initially, and after 14 days of using toothpaste with chlorhexidine and cetylpyridine. Clinical examination of gingival tissues was performed. Certain oxidative stress markers (TP, TEAC, TBARS, AOPP) were measured in the saliva samples. Results: There were significant changes in clinical indicators of periodontal status before and after the application of the toothpaste (API before 0.35 (0.24–0.65) vs. API after 0.265 (0.18–0.39), p = 0.03; SBI before 0.07 (0.04–0.15) vs. SBI after 0.035 (0-0.06), p = 0.002; GI before 0.88 (0.46–1) vs. GI after 0.67 (0.25–1), p = 0.0008). The concentration of saliva TBARS decreased (p = 0.00005) and TEAC increased (p = 0.09). Conclusion: Proper oral hygiene supported by antibacterial chemicals may improve the periodontal status and reduce inflammation