Research progress of 3D printed poly (ether ether ketone) in the reconstruction of craniomaxillofacial bone defects

The clinical challenge of bone defects in the craniomaxillofacial region, which can lead to significant physiological dysfunction and psychological distress, persists due to the complex and unique anatomy of craniomaxillofacial bones. These critical-sized defects require the use of bone grafts or substitutes for effective reconstruction. However, current biomaterials and methods have specific limitations in meeting the clinical demands for structural reinforcement, mechanical support, exceptional biological performance, and aesthetically pleasing reconstruction of the facial structure. These drawbacks have led to a growing need for novel materials and technologies. The growing development of 3D printing can offer significant advantages to address these issues, as demonstrated by the fabrication of patient-specific bioactive constructs with controlled structural design for complex bone defects in medical applications using this technology. Poly (ether ether ketone) (PEEK), among a number of materials used, is gaining recognition as a feasible substitute for a customized structure that closely resembles natural bone. It has proven to be an excellent, conformable, and 3D-printable material with the potential to replace traditional autografts and titanium implants. However, its biological inertness poses certain limitations. Therefore, this review summarizes the distinctive features of craniomaxillofacial bones and current methods for bone reconstruction, and then focuses on the increasingly applied 3D printed PEEK constructs in this field and an update on the advanced modifications for improved mechanical properties, biological performance, and antibacterial capacity. Exploring the potential of 3D printed PEEK is expected to lead to more cost-effective, biocompatible, and personalized treatment of craniomaxillofacial bone defects in clinical applications

Comprehensive Care for Women with High-Risk of Developing Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer globally for women, with an estimated 2.2 million cases per year. In the United States, breast cancer accounts for 30% of cancers among women, with approximately 281,550 new cases expected in 2021. The lifetime risk for an American woman to develop breast cancer is one in every eight women. While breast cancer outcomes have improved steadily over the past decade with more effective screening and treatment, this general approach is not sufficient for at the highest risk to develop breast cancer, as a better surveillance approach and earlier treatment can lead to better outcomes. This article reviews how to identify a woman at high risk, current clinical guidelines in selecting the surveillance methods, and specific breast cancer reduction strategies

Scavenging Ports’ Optimal Design of a Two-Stroke Small Aeroengine Based on the Benson/Bradham Model

The two-stroke engine is a common power source for small and medium-sized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), which has wide civil and military applications. To improve the engine performance, we chose a prototype two-stroke small areoengine, and optimized the geometric parameters of the scavenging ports by performing one-dimensional (1D) and three-dimensional (3D) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) coupling simulations. The prototype engine is tested on a dynamometer to measure in-cylinder pressure curves, as a reference for subsequent simulations. A GT Power simulation model is established and validated against experimental data to provide initial conditions and boundary conditions for the subsequent AVL FIRE simulations. Four parameters are considered as optimal design factors in this research: Tilt angle of the central scavenging port, tilt angle of lateral scavenging ports, slip angle of lateral scavenging ports, and width ratio of the central scavenging port. An evaluation objective function based on the Benson/Bradham model is selected as the optimization goal. Two different operating conditions, including the take-off and cruise of the UAV are considered. The results include: (1) Orthogonal experiments are analyzed, and the significance of parameters are discussed; (2) the best factors combination is concluded, followed by simulation verification; (3) results before and after optimization are compared in details, including specific scavenging indexes (delivery ratio, trapping efficiency, scavenging efficiency, etc.), conventional performance indicators, and the sectional views of gas composition distribution inside the cylinder

Deploying Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Considering Time Cost and Existing Infrastructure

Under the challenge of climate change, fuel-based vehicles have been receiving increasingly harsh criticism. To promote the use of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) as an alternative, many researchers have studied the deployment of BEVs. This paper proposes a new method to choose locations for new BEV charging stations considering drivers’ perceived time cost and the existing infrastructure. We construct probability equations to estimate drivers’ demanding time for charging (and waiting to charge), use the Voronoi diagram to separate the study area (i.e., Shanghai) into service areas, and apply an optimization algorithm to deploy the charging stations in the right locations. The results show that (1) the probability of charging at public charging stations is 39.6%, indicating BEV drivers prefer to charge at home; (2) Shanghai’s central area and two airports have the busiest charging stations, but drivers’ time costs are relatively low; and (3) our optimization algorithm successfully located two new charging stations surrounding the central area, matching with our expectations. This study provides a time-efficient way to decide where to build new charging stations to improve the existing infrastructure

Seismic Performance of Grille-Type Steel Plate Concrete Composite Walls with Application in a Super-High-Rise Building

The grille-type steel plate concrete composite wall (GSPCW) is an innovative shear wall system that mainly consists of steel faceplates, steel tie plates and infilled concrete. Compared to traditional steel plate concrete composite shear walls, the advantages of GSPCW walls include: (1) relatively high lateral and buckling resistance; and (2) simple structural measures for convenient construction and implementation. This paper presents the results of extensive numerical investigations regarding GSPCW systems, examining both GSPCW wall components and their application in a super-high-rise building as a case study. First, typical GSPCW wall models are established using DIANA software, and the numerical models are validated on the basis of comparison with results from previously reported experimental tests. The verified models are further used to perform parametric analyses with the aim of further understanding the effects of various design parameters on the seismic performance of GSPCW systems, including steel ratio, axial load ratio, height-to-width ratio, aspect ratio of the grille steel plate, and concrete compressive strength. Second, a super-high-rise building was selected for application to perform a case study of a GSPCW system. The seismic performance of the tall building in the case study was comparatively evaluated on the basis of both nonlinear time history analysis and modal pushover analysis (MPA), and the results from both of these methods validated the use of GSPCW is an efficient structural wall system appropriate for use in super-high-rise buildings. Finally, a simple economic assessment of the GSPCW building was performed, and the results were compared with those obtained for conventional reinforced concrete wall buildings

China expert consensus on clinical application of the drug-coated balloon

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has become the mainstay in the treatment of coronary heart disease (CHD). In the past 10 years, the number of PCI procedures for CHD has maintained an annual growth of 15%–20% on average in China. As a consequence, in-stent restenosis (ISR) has become an increasingly serious problem with the wide application of coronary stents. Certainly, current treatment regimens for ISR are unsatisfactory in some aspects. Coronary artery bypass surgery has many risk factors and contradictions and a second stent implantation is associated with the risk for recurrent ISR and additional stent implantations; the rate of recurrent ISR in lesions after plain old balloon angioplasty is high (up to 27%). Therefore, all these regimens are suboptimal for the treatment of ISR. In recent years, drug-coated balloon (DCB), a novel interventional technique, has been increasingly used in coronary and peripheral artery interventions in Europe and Asia. In China, several DCB products have been or will be marketed for clinical application. The introduction of DCB provides a new choice for the treatment of coronary artery diseases in China. Based on several national and international clinical trials, >20 experienced experts in the PCI field from China have proposed the China expert consensus on clinical application of the DCB with evidence-based validation and session discussion in order to promote the standardized application of the DCB in the treatment of coronary artery diseases in China

Base-Editing-Mediated R17H Substitution in Histone H3 Reveals Methylation-Dependent Regulation of Yap Signaling and Early Mouse Embryo Development

Summary: The coactivator-associated arginine methyltransferase CARM1 catalyzes the methylation of histone H3 arginine 17/26 (H3R17/26me) and non-histone proteins at arginine residues to regulate gene transactivation through profiling or Carm1 overexpression assays. However, the direct relationship between H3R17/26me and its causal role in mouse embryo development remains largely unclear. Here, we use rAPOBEC1-XTEN-Cas9n-UGI (BE3) to efficiently introduce a point mutation (R17H) at multiple Hist1/2H3 loci and a premature-stop codon into the catalytic domain of CARM1 in mouse embryos, resulting in remarkable downregulation of H3R17me levels and developmental defects in pre-implantation and fetal embryos. Transcriptomic analysis reveals that Yap1 and cell cycle signaling pathways are dysregulated in Carm1 truncation and H3R17H substitution embryos, and Yap1 overexpression could rescue the base-editing-elicited defects. Our data establish the direct regulatory relationship between CARM1-mediated H3R17me and early mouse embryo development and demonstrate that Yap1 acts downstream of CARM1-mediated H3R17me to regulate the mouse embryo development. : Yang et al. apply CRISPR-Cas9-based base editing tools to precisely introduce substitutions at multiple histone H3 loci to disrupt methylation at histone H3 arginine 17 (H3R17me), and they find that CARM1-mediated H3R17me regulates embryo development through Yap1 and cell cycle signaling pathways. Keywords: base editing, H3R17, CARM1, histone methylation, Yap1 signaling, embryo developmen

Ti³⁺ Self-Doped Black TiO₂ Nanotubes with Mesoporous Nanosheet Architecture as Efficient Solar-Driven Hydrogen Evolution Photocatalysts

Ti³⁺ self-doped black TiO₂ nanotubes (TDBTNs) with mesoporous nanosheet architecture have been successfully synthesized by solvothermal method combined with ethylenediamine encircling strategy to protect mesoporous frameworks, then calcined at 600 °C under hydrogen atmosphere. In this case, ethylenediamine molecules play important roles on maintaining the mesoporous networks and inhibiting the phase transformation from anatase-torutile effectively. The as-prepared TDBTNs with mesoporous nanosheet architecture possess a relatively high specific surface area of ∼95 m² g^–1 and an average pore size of ∼15.6 nm. The reduced bandgap of ∼2.87 eV extends the photoresponse from ultroviolet to visible light region due to the Ti³⁺ self-doping. The solar-driven photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate for TDBTNs is approximately 3.95 mmol h^–1 g^–1, which is much better (about four times) than that of the pristine one (∼0.94 mmol h^–1 g^–1). This improvement is attributed to the reduced bandgap increasing the utilization ratio of solar energy, the formed Ti³⁺ enhancing separation efficiency of photogenerated charge carriers, and the special one-dimensional mesoporous architecture offering more surface active sites

Arginine-Rich Manganese Silicate Nanobubbles as a Ferroptosis-Inducing Agent for Tumor-Targeted Theranostics

Ferroptosis, an iron-based cell-death pathway, has recently attracted great attention owing to its effectiveness in killing cancer cells. Previous investigations focused on the development of iron-based nanomaterials to induce ferroptosis in cancer cells by the up-regulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by the well-known Fenton reaction. Herein, we report a ferroptosis-inducing agent based on arginine-rich manganese silicate nanobubbles (AMSNs) that possess highly efficient glutathione (GSH) depletion ability and thereby induce ferroptosis by the inactivation of glutathione-dependent peroxidases 4 (GPX4). The AMSNs were synthesized via a one-pot reaction with arginine (Arg) as the surface ligand for tumor homing. Subsequently, a significant tumor suppression effect can be achieved by GSH depletion-induced ferroptosis. Moreover, the degradation of AMSNs during the GSH depletion contributed to T -weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) enhancement as well as on-demand chemotherapeutic drug release for synergistic cancer therapy. We anticipate that the GSH-depletion-induced ferroptosis strategy by using manganese-based nanomaterials would provide insights in designing nanomedicines for tumor-targeted theranostics