Optimal treatment protocol using dental implants for edentulous maxilla: a review of the literature

AIM: This systematic review analyzes the impact of factors affecting the rehabilitation of maxillary edentulous patients with implant-supported prosthesis. By identifying these variables we hope to establish standard treatment protocols for the edentulous maxilla. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The electronic data bases PubMed, Science Direct, and Embase were searched for clinical studies of complete maxillary implant supported removable and fixed dental prostheses. The analysis was confined to prospective studies with a mean follow-up of at least 1 year published prior to February 2017. RESULTS: A total of 158 publications were retrieved from the database searches. One additional article was included from manual searches. From these, 12 articles were included in this study for further analysis using PRISMA. The analysis of the selected articles revealed the following findings: 1. It is difficult to report a definite conclusion from the selected articles in the present review because they exhibit a great heterogeneity and differences in methodology. 2. High implant and implant supported fixed prosthesis survival rates can be achieved when five or more implants were placed in edentulous maxilla. 3. Whether implants were placed in healed bone sites or fresh extraction sockets did not significantly affect the implant survival rate. 4. Immediate loading of prosthesis did not show a difference in implant or prosthetic survival rate. 5. Continuing follow up is necessary because in fixed type of restoration fractured components of prostheses is very commonly seen

Does open-plan office environment support creativity? The mediating role of activated positive mood

This study examines how perceived physical office environment features affect occupants’ creativity through positive moods. Based on a sample of 181 occupants in open-plan offices, we found that perceived spatial organization features had a positive relationship with occupants’ self-assessed creativity, and this relationship is mediated by positive moods. Although perceived architectonic details of the physical work environment do not have a direct effect on occupants’ creativity, there is also a mediating effect through positive moods. A further examination revealed that activated positive mood significantly mediates the relationship between both physical work environment features and occupants’ creativity, whereas deactivated positive mood was not significant as a mediator. When occupants perceived the physical work environment to be supportive in providing various workspaces and is well decorated, it is most likely to enhance creativity. Article in English. Ar atvirojo plano biurų aplinka palaiko kūrybiškumą? Poveikį darantis suaktyvintas pozityvus nusiteikimas Santrauka Šiame tyrime nagrinėjama, kaip suvokiamos fizinės biuro aplinkos ypatumai veikia darbuotojų kūrybiškumą, jiems esant pozityviai nusiteikusiems. Remdamiesi atvirojo plano biurų 181 darbuotojo pavyzdžiu nustatėme, kad suvokiamos erdvinės organizacijos ypatumams buvo būdingas pozityvus santykis su pačių darbuotojų savojo kūrybiškumo vertinimais, o šiam santykiui netiesioginę įtaką turi pozityvus nusiteikimas. Nors fizinės darbo aplinkos suvokiamos architektūrinės detalės neturi tiesioginio poveikio darbuotojų kūrybiškumui, vis dėlto pozityvus nusiteikimas daro netiesioginį poveikį. Tolesnis tyrimas atskleidė, kad suaktyvintas pozityvus nusiteikimas turi reikšmingą įtaką santykiui tiek tarp fizinės darbo aplinkos ypatumų, tiek tarp darbuotojų kūrybiškumo, o nesuaktyvintas pozityvus nusiteikimas neturėjo didelės reikšmės poveikio atžvilgiu. Darbuotojai suprato, kad fizinė darbo aplinka, kuri sudaro sąlygas kurti įvairias darbo erdves ir yra tinkamai apipavidalinta, labai tikėtina, jog ir sustiprina kūrybiškumą. Reikšminiai žodžiai: suaktyvintas pozityvus nusiteikimas, kūrybiškumas, nusiteikimas, fizinė darbo aplinka

Local Activities of the Membranes Associated with Glycosaminoglycan-Chitosan Complexes in Bone Cells

Chitosan is a cationic polysaccharide derived from the partial deacetylation of chitin. Hyaluronic acid (HA), chondroitin sulfate (CS) and heparin (HP) are anionic glycosaminoglycans (GCGs) which can regulate osteogenic activity. In this study, chitosan membranes were prepared by glutaraldehyde crosslinking reaction and then complexed with three different types of GCGs. 7F2 osteoblasts-like cells and macrophages Raw264.7 were used as models to study the influence of chitosan membranes on osteometabolism. Although chitosan membranes are highly hydrophilic, the membranes associated with GCG-chitosan complexes showed about 60-70% cell attachment. Furthermore, the membranes associated with HP-chitosan complexes could increase ALP activity in comparison with chitosan films only. Three types of the membranes associated with GCG-chitosan complexes could significantly inhibit LPS induced-nitric oxide expression. In addition, chitosan membranes associated with HP and HA can down-regulate tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) activity but not CS-chitosan complexes. Based on these results, we conclude that chitosan membranes associated with HP can increase ALP activity in osteoblasts and chitosan membranes associated with HP and HA reduce TRAP activity in osteoclasts

Clinical development of liposome-based drugs: formulation, characterization, and therapeutic efficacy

Research on liposome formulations has progressed from that on conventional vesicles to new generation liposomes, such as cationic liposomes, temperature sensitive liposomes, and virosomes, by modulating the formulation techniques and lipid composition. Many research papers focus on the correlation of blood circulation time and drug accumulation in target tissues with physicochemical properties of liposomal formulations, including particle size, membrane lamellarity, surface charge, permeability, encapsulation volume, shelf time, and release rate. This review is mainly to compare the therapeutic effect of current clinically approved liposome-based drugs with free drugs, and to also determine the clinical effect via liposomal variations in lipid composition. Furthermore, the major preclinical and clinical data related to the principal liposomal formulations are also summarized

Vaginal delivery of siRNA using a novel PEGylated lipoplex-entrapped alginate scaffold system

Sustained vaginal delivery of siRNA has been precluded by the mucosal barrier lining the vaginal tract. In contrast to prior reports, we showed that conventional lipoplexes administered intravaginally are unable to reach the vaginal epithelium under normal physiological conditions. Here we have developed a novel alginate scaffold system containing muco-inert PEGylated lipoplexes to provide a sustained vaginal presence of lipoplexes in vivo and to facilitate the delivery of siRNA/oligonucleotides into the vaginal epithelium. These PEGylated lipoplex-entrapped alginate scaffolds (PLAS) were fabricated using a freeze-drying method and the entrapment efficiency, release rate, and efficacy were characterized. We demonstrated that the PLAS system had an entrapment efficiency of ~ 50%, which released PEGylated lipoplexes gradually both in vitro and in vivo. While the presence of alginate diminished the cell uptake efficiency of PEGylated lipoplexes in vitro, as expected, we showed a six-fold increase their uptake into the vaginal epithelium compared to existing transfection systems following intravaginal administration in mice. A significant knockdown of Lamin A/C level was also observed in vaginal tissues using siLamin A/C-containing PLAS system in vivo. Overall, our results indicated the potential of the biodegradable PLAS system for the sustained delivery of siRNA/oligonucleotides to vaginal epithelium

Altered expression of protein tyrosine phosphatase, non-receptor type 22 isoforms in systemic lupus erythematosus

Introduction: A C-to-T single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) located at position 1858 of human protein tyrosine phosphatase, non-receptor type 22 (PTPN22) complementary DNA (cDNA) is associated with an increased risk of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). How the overall activity of PTPN22 is regulated and how the expression of PTPN22 differs between healthy individuals and patients with lupus are poorly understood. Our objectives were to identify novel alternatively spliced forms of PTPN22 and to examine the expression of PTPN22 isoforms in healthy donors and patients with lupus. Methods: Various human PTPN22 isoforms were identified from the GenBank database or amplified directly from human T cells. The expression of these isoforms in primary T cells and macrophages was examined with real-time polymerase chain reaction. The function of the isoforms was determined with luciferase assays. Blood samples were collected from 49 subjects with SLE and 15 healthy controls. Correlation between the level of PTPN22 isoforms in peripheral blood and clinical features of SLE was examined with statistical analyses. Results: Human PTPN22 was expressed in several isoforms, which differed in their level of expression and subcellular localization. All isoforms except one were functionally interchangeable in regulating NFAT activity. SLE patients expressed higher levels of PTPN22 than healthy individuals and the levels of PTPN22 were negatively correlated with the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index (SLICC-DI). Conclusions: The overall activity of PTPN22 is determined by the functional balance among all isoforms. The levels of PTPN22 isoforms in peripheral blood could represent a useful biomarker of SLE

The role of land surface processes on the mesoscale simulation of the July 26, 2005 heavy rain event over Mumbai, India

A record-breaking heavy rain event occurred over Mumbai, India on July 26th, 2005 with 24-h rainfall exceeding 944 mm. Operational weather forecast models failed to predict the intensity and amount of heavy rainfall. The objective of this study was to test the impact of the three different land surface models when coupled to the Weather Research Forecasting (WRF), and also to investigate the ability of the WRF model to simulate the Mumbai heavy rain event. Numerical experiments were designed using the WRF model, with three nested domains (30, 10, and 3.3 km grid spacing). Results confirmed that the simulated rainfall is sensitive to the grid spacing (with finer grids leading to higher rainfall). Results also suggest that simulated precipitation amounts are sensitive to the choice of cumulus parameterization (with Grell-Devenyi cumulus scheme performing relatively best). To reduce the confounding impact of cumulus parameterization in studying the impacts of land surface models, we evaluated results for the 3.3 km grid spacing domain with explicit convection. Simulations were performed from 12Z, July 25th to 00Z, July 27th with identical boundary conditions and model configurations for three different land surface models (the Slab, the Noah, and a modified version with photosynthesis module-the Noah-GEM). The model results were compared with observed rainfall, surface temperature, and operational soundings over three locations: Mumbai, Bangalore and Bhopal. Model results showed that: (i) The simulated rainfall was sensitive to the chosen land surface model. The rainfall spatial distributions, as well as their temporal characteristics, were different for each of the three WRF runs with different LSMs. (ii) In contrast to the findings over mid-latitudes, the relatively simpler Slab model had a relatively better performance than the modestly complex Noah and Noah-GEM LSMs. For example, the highest observed rainfall over Mumbai was 944 mm and the simulated amounts for Slab, Noah and Noah-GEM runs were 781 mm, 733 mm and 678 mm, respectively. (iii) Overall, the Slab model simulated a relatively cooler surface and a shallower boundary layer. Most significantly, the Slab model resulted in a convergence hotspot at both the 850 mb and 500 mb levels, which lead to high moisture accumulation and higher rainfall activity over Mumbai. Noah and Noah-GEM, on the other hand, resulted in a divergence zone over Mumbai and the Western Ghats leading to more widespread runs but relatively lower rainfall amounts over Mumbai. Additional synthetic experiments were performed to test the sensitivity of land use land cover, the model start time and run duration. Results indicated that the WRF model was able to reproduce several features of the Mumbai rain event, and that the land surface representations would have substantial impact on the heavy rain simulations. Future studies with more up to date land use land cover data, and regional calibration of the land surface model parameters, show the potential for improving the performance of the Noah-WRF over the Indian monsoon region