Synthesis of an injectable heparin conjugated poloxamer hydrogel with high elastic recoverability for temporomandibular joint disorders

The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is commonly affected during fundamental oral activities, reducing the quality of life. Herein, we synthesized a heparin-conjugated poloxamer hydrogel (HEP) as a thermo-responsive injectable hydrogel for the treatment of TMJ disorders. While the gelation temperature of synthesized HEP (25% [w/v]) was 29.8-30.0 degrees C, there was a slight difference between loss and storage modulus. HEP decreased the friction of the TMJ, thus requires less energy during load-bearing jaw movement in comparison to POL. Moreover, the oscillation test dependent on strain ranges from 0.01% to 1000% validated that POL and HEP3 hydrogels showed a similar critical strain of about 5.6%. The total elastic recovery percentage of HEP3 (53.50%) was higher than POL (45.55%), indicating a better recovery of the deformed hydrogel structure. Along with the suitable viscoelastic properties for temporomandibular cavity, both hydrogels increased the proliferation of fibroblasts (L929) and chondrocytes (ATDC5) (cell viabilities were above 100%). However, newly synthesized HEP induced differentiated cell proliferation of chondrogenic cells at increasing concentrations up to 0.0156 mg/mL (p < 0.0001) compared to POL and the control group. The promising rheological properties and effects on chondrogenic cell proliferation of injectable heparin-conjugated hydrogel make them candidates for intra-articular injections used for the treatment of TMJ

The relationship between self-compassion and cognitive flexibility in women and health improvement

Bu araştırma öz şefkat, bilişsel esneklik ve sağlığı geliştirme arasındaki ilişkiyi değerlendirmek için ilişki arayıcı ve kesitsel bir tanımlayıcı araştırma olarak yapılmıştır. Evrenini Koç yazı Mh. 5 nolu Aile Sağlık Merkezi'ne kayıtlı yetişkin 1135 kadın oluşturmuştur. Çalışmaya 411 kadın dahil olmuştur. Veri toplama aracı olarak tanıtıcı bilgi formu, öz şefkat ölçeği, bilişsel esneklik ölçeği ve sağlıklı yaşam biçimi II ölçeği kullanılmıştır. Verilerin analizinde; tanımlayıcı istatistikler, Pearson Korelasyon Katsayısı, Yapısal Eşitlik Modeli kullanılmıştır. Araştırmaya katılan kadınların öz şefkat puan ortalaması 3,13±0,402, bilişsel esneklik puan ortalaması 49,18±6,758, sağlıklı yaşam biçimi puan ortalaması 129,90±20,072 'dir. Öz şefkat ile bilişsel esneklik arasında orta düzeyde pozitif yönde anlamlı doğrusal bir ilişki olduğu (r=0,330; p<0,001), öz şefkat ile sağlığı geliştirme arasında da orta düzeyde pozitif yönde anlamlı doğrusal bir ilişki olduğu görülmüştür (r=0,324; p<0,001). Bilişsel esneklik ile sağlıklı yaşam biçimi arasında da orta düzeyde pozitif yönde anlamlı doğrusal bir ilişki olduğu görülmüştür (r=0,385; p<0,001).Öz şefkatin sağlığı geliştirme üzerindeki direk etkisi istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bulunmuştur (p<0,001). Aracı değişken olan bilişsel esneklik modele eklendiğinde; öz şefkatten bilişsel esnekliğe olan etki istatistiksel olarak anlamlı (p<0,001) iken, öz şefkatin sağlıklı yaşam biçimi üzerindeki direk etkisi de istatistiksel olarak anlamlılığını korumuştur. Oluşturulan modelde; bilişsel esneklik olsa da olmasa da özşefkat ve sağlığı geliştirme arasında ilişki bulunmuştur. Ayrıca bilişsel esneklikte, öz şefkat ve sağlığı geliştirme arasında kısmi aracı rolü üstlenmiştir. Öz şefkat ve bilişsel esneklik eğitim yoluyla geliştirilebilir olduğu için, öz şefkat ve bilişsel esneklik düzeyini yükseltmek için kullanılan yöntemlerin, sağlığı geliştirmeyi artırmak için de faydalı olması mümkündür. Anahtar Kelimeler: Bilişsel Esneklik, Kadın, Öz-Şefkat, Sağlık, Sağlığı Geliştirme.This research was conducted as a relationship deceptive and cross-sectional descriptive research to assess the relationship between self-compassion, cognitive flexibility, and health enhancement. The universe of research was made up of 1135 adult women enrolled in Koçyazı District Family Health Center No. 5 . The sample consisted of 411 women. The introductory data form, self-compassion Scale, cognitive flexibility scale and healthy lifestyle II scale were used as data collection tools. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient, and structural equality model were used in the analysis of the obtained data. The average self-compassion score of the women participating in the study was 3.13±0.402, the average cognitive flexibility score was 49.18±6,758, and the average healthy lifestyle score was 129.90±20,072. Self-compassion significant moderate positive there was a linear relationship between cognitive flexibility (r=0,330; p<0.001), self-compassion with significant moderate positive linear relationship was found between health promotion (r=0,324; p<0.001). It was observed that there was a moderately positive and significant linear relationship between cognitive flexibility and healthy lifestyle (r=0.385; p<0.001).The direct effect of self-compassion on health improvement was found to be statistically significant (p<0.001). When cognitive flexibility, which is variable in the tool, was added to the model, the effect from self-compassion to cognitive flexibility was statistically significant (p<0.001), while the direct effect of self-compassion on a healthy lifestyle also maintained its statistical significance. In the model created, a relationship between self-compassion and health improvement was found, whether cognitive flexibility or not. He also assumed the role of partial intermediary between self-compassion and health promotion in cognitive flexibility. Since self-compassion and cognitive flexibility can be improved through education, it is possible that methods used to raise the level of self-compassion and cognitive flexibility can also be useful for improving health. Keywords: Cognitive Flexibility, Health, Health Improvement, Self-Compassion, Wome

Hydroxyapatite-nanosphere supported ruthenium(0) nanoparticle catalyst for hydrogen generation from ammonia-borane solution: kinetic studies for nanoparticle formation and hydrogen evolution

The development of readily prepared effective heterogeneous catalysts for hydrogen generation from ammonia-borane (AB; NH3BH3) solution under mild conditions still remains a challenge in the field of "hydrogen economy". In this study, we report our finding of an in situ generated, highly active ruthenium nanocatalyst for the dehydrogenation of ammonia-borane in water at room temperature. The new catalyst system consists of ruthenium(0) nanoparticles supported on nanohydroxyapatite (RuNPs@nano-HAp), and can be reproducibly prepared under in situ conditions from the ammonia-borane reduction of Ru3+ ions exchanged into nanohydroxyapatite (Ru3+@nano-HAp) during the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia-borane at 25 +/- 0.1 degrees C. Nanohydroxyapatite-supported ruthenium(0) nanoparticles were characterized by a combination of advanced analytical techniques. The sum of their results shows the formation of well-dispersed ruthenium(0) nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 2.6 +/- 0.6 nm on the surface of the nanospheres of hydroxyapatite by keeping the host matrix intact. The resulting RuNPs@nano-HAp are highly active catalyst in the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia-borane with an initial TOF value of 205 min(-1) by generating 3.0 equiv. of H-2 per mole of ammonia-borane at 25 +/- 0.1 degrees C. Moreover, they are sufficiently stable to be isolated and bottled as solid materials, which can be reused as active catalyst under the identical conditions of first run. The work reported here also includes the following results: (i) monitoring the formation kinetics of the in situ generated RuNPs@nano-HAp by hydrogen generation from the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia-borane as the reporter reaction. The sigmoidal kinetics of catalyst formation and concomitant dehydrogenation fits well to the two-step, slow nucleation, followed by autocatalytic surface growth mechanism, P -> Q (rate constant k(1)) and P + Q -> 2Q (rate constant k(2)), in which P is Ru3+@nano-HAp and Q is the growing, catalytically active RuNPs@nano-HAp; (ii) the compilation of kinetic data for the RuNPs@nano-HAp catalyzed hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia-borane depending on the temperature and catalyst concentration to determine the dependency of reaction rate on catalyst concentration and activation parameters (E-a, Delta H-#, and Delta S-#) of the reaction