Insights into the pathogenesis of nicotine addiction. Could a salivary biosensor be useful in Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)?

Nicotine has gained the attention of the medical community due to its insidious addictive mechanisms which lead to chronic consumption. The multitude of compounds derived from tobacco smoke have local and systemic negative impacts, resulting in a large number of smoking-related pathologies. The present review offers insights into nicotine addiction physiopathology, as well as social and medical implications, with emphasis on its correlation with Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs). Therapeutic strategies and new approaches to nicotine assessment and cessation treatment are discussed, noting that such strategies could take into account the possibility of slow and gradual nicotine release from a device attached to a prosthetic piece, based on salivary nicotine-concentration feedback. This approach could offer real-time and home-based self-therapy monitoring by the physician and the patient for follow-up and improve long-term cessation treatment success- Graphical abstract

Insights into the pathogenesis of nicotine addiction. Could a salivary biosensor be useful in Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)?

Nicotine has gained the attention of the medical community due to its insidious addictive mechanisms which lead to chronic consumption. The multitude of compounds derived from tobacco smoke have local and systemic negative impacts, resulting in a large number of smoking-related pathologies. The present review offers insights into nicotine addiction physiopathology, as well as social and medical implications, with emphasis on its correlation with Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs). Therapeutic strategies and new approaches to nicotine assessment and cessation treatment are discussed, noting that such strategies could take into account the possibility of slow and gradual nicotine release from a device attached to a prosthetic piece, based on salivary nicotine-concentration feedback. This approach could offer real-time and home-based self-therapy monitoring by the physician and the patient for follow-up and improve long-term cessation treatment success- Graphical abstract

Examination of Austenite Solidification and Spheroidal Graphite Growth in Ni-Fe-C Alloys

The austenite phase and the spheroidal graphite in a Ni-Fe-C alloy at various solidification stages were captured by quenching experiments using spherical ceramic shell molds with inserted thermocouples. Multiple graphite nodules/spheroidal graphite particles inside an eutectic cell were observed using optical microscopy. Individual eutectic cells were differentiated by an intermetallic phase occurring within the interdendritic regions. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and orientation image mapping (OIM) analyses were performed to investigate the crystallographic orientation and the grain boundary distribution of the austenite grains surrounding individual spheroidal graphite particles. The austenite engulfment process around the spheroidal graphite was revealed by EBSD/OIM analyses. Examination of the graphite nodules extracted by deep etching experiments revealed three stages of growth for the spheroidal graphite particles