Effects of enamel matrix derivative and transforming growth factor-β1 on human osteoblastic cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Extracellular matrix proteins are key factors that influence the regenerative capacity of tissues. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of enamel matrix derivative (EMD), TGF-β1, and the combination of both factors (EMD+TGF-β1) on human osteoblastic cell cultures.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cells were obtained from alveolar bone of three adult patients using enzymatic digestion. Effects of EMD, TGF-β1, or a combination of both were analyzed on cell proliferation, bone sialoprotein (BSP), osteopontin (OPN) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) immunodetection, total protein synthesis, ALP activity and bone-like nodule formation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>All treatments significantly increased cell proliferation compared to the control group at 24 h and 4 days. At day 7, EMD group showed higher cell proliferation compared to TGF-β1, EMD + TGF-β1 and the control group. OPN was detected in the majority of the cells for all groups, whereas fluorescence intensities for ALP labeling were greater in the control than in treated groups; BSP was not detected in all groups. All treatments decreased ALP levels at 7 and 14 days and bone-like nodule formation at 21 days compared to the control group.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The exposure of human osteoblastic cells to EMD, TGF-β1 and the combination of factors <it>in vitro </it>supports the development of a less differentiated phenotype, with enhanced proliferative activity and total cell number, and reduced ALP activity levels and matrix mineralization.</p

Real Life as a Play on Stage - A Study of Guilt and Shame in Ian McEwan's "Atonement"

In the novel "Atonement" by Ian McEwan, questions of guilt, shame and redemption are in focus. The main character Briony Tallis is presented as making up for a crime by working on a novel for 59 years. In this essay the novel's proposition of atonement is discussed from three perspectives: Briony as the passive observer and the fictive author of the novel, as the actress in the drama of her life seeking atonement and as the actress in the drama of her own life as well as that of characters Cecilia, Robbie and the Marshalls. In contrast to a statement by McEwan that Briony has atoned for her sins through her efforts in writing the novel, my findings show that it is impossible to argue that fictional amendments qualify for atonement; nor is there any absolution from a religious point of view. On one hand she has matured and reached insight of her inner self, but she does not use her knowledge to make amends. She is more interested in keeping her highly appraised position as a famous writer. The novel's metafictional method complicates this interpretation. McEwan's argument, that history and autobiography are both narrated chosen memories under the same rules, is in this case not applicable since the fictive author neglects facts and transmutes reality into fiction. Briony is from a realistic point of view to be judged as morally flawed and not atoned. It appears that reconciliation with the "self" or redemption are more suitable terms. Considering the characterization given by McEwan I find that Briony is faithful to her passion for storytelling but not taking responsibility for her crime. She rather changes the facts. As the fictive author of the novel she is not trustworthy when turning the full story into a mystery, not controllable, since she has decided to publish the novel after her death. Hereby she dictates the biographies of all involved

CROSSING BORDERS: A Study of Transnational Living in Taiye Selasi’s Ghana Must Go (2014) and No Violet Bulawayo’s We Need New Names (2014)

Abstract: A number of authors of African descent published ‘Afropolitan’ novels around the year 2010. Several of these diaspora novels dominated the literary scene and caused intense debates about the contested concept of Afropolitanism. The authors Taye Selasi and No Violet Bulawayo challenge colonial images of Africa in their writing. They ask the pivotal question: “Who Is an African?” while presenting immigrants of first and second generation who freely move from the African continent to the West and sometimes back again. The novels, Ghana Must Go (2013) and We Need New Names (2014) depict migrants crossing borders and describe the transnational subjects’ views of themselves. In the first part of the essay, I discuss the trope of mobility in relation to feelings of anxiety and alienation in Selasi’s Ghana Must Go, mainly from the perspectives of home, belonging, and estrangement. In part two, I discuss Bulawayo’s We Need New Names from the aforementioned perspectives but with an emphasis on the crossing of political borders. This thesis contributes to the discussion of migrant theories that consider the physical and psychological effects of crossing geographical, political, social, and emotional borders. By applying multiple theories on transnational living in combination with Sara Ahmed’s theories about estrangement, alienation, and dislocation and their impact on the body, my main argument, concerning these two novels, is that subjects change continually and gradually in a multidimensional process. Experiences of changing cultural and social contexts and practices within Africa and the U.S.A. make the fictional characters reconsider their self-identity, transform their subjectivities, and transfer idealized and imaginary localities between the continents

On growth factors and titanium implant integration in bone

PurposeThe purpose of the present thesis was to investigate the bone tissue response around titanium implants with one growth factor stimulating hormone and a few different growth factor substances.Material and methodsIn four studies (study I to IV) a rabbit model were used and the growth factors i.e. growth hormone (hGH), enamel matrix derivative (EMD), fibroblast growth factor-4s (FGF-4s) or bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7) was applied around or inside the titanium implants.In study I, 16 Russian rabbits were used and in study II, III and IV a total number of 22 New Zealand White rabbits were used. The follow-up time was 8 weeks in study I, 6 weeks in study II and III and 4 weeks in study IV. In two studies (study V and VI) a Labrador dog model with partially inserted implants was used. A total number of 10 dogs were used in these two studies. The first dog study evaluated the model with the partially inserted implants and the second dog study evaluated a bone morphogenetic protein S 300 cocktail (BMP S300). In all studies threaded commercially pure titanium implants were used. Evaluation of the osseointegration of the implants was performed by resonance frequency analysis (4 studies), removal torque test (3 studies), dual energy X-ray analysis (one study), histomorphometric analysis on undecalcified ground sections (all studies) and image access analysis on microradiographs (one study).ResultsThe results indicate that systemically delivered human growth hormone may enhance the initial implant integration and that local delivery of FGF-4s may stimulate bone formation around titanium implants. However, it seemed that EMD, BMP-7 and BMP S300 failed to stimulate bone formation around titanium implants in the used models.ConclusionWithin the limits of the studies of the present thesis growth factors locally applied in conjunction with press fit placed titanium implants does not seem to contribute to substantially improved implant integration. Small positive effects were demonstrated after systemically delivered hGH and FGF-4s pre-treated bone. However, the present author has not at all been convinced that external supply by growth factors are effective in experimental press fit models as those used in the present study. It is quite possible that inherent growth factor are sufficient to stimulate bone formation around press fit titanium implants and an external addition of growth factors may not result in substantially reinforced bone volumes. This assumption implies that growth factors may be of little use in the ordinary clinical situation

Documentary Filmmaking as Colonialist Propaganda and Cinefeminist Intervention : Mai Zettterling's Of Seals and Men (1979)

This essay focuses on UK-based Swedish filmmaker Mai Zetterling's made-for-television documentary Of Seals and Men (1979). Zetterling is known internationally as an art-film auteur, and this examination seeks to broaden her stature in the context of the UK and Europe-based cinefeminsim movements of the 1970s. The authors argue that Of Seals and Men constitutes a significant and overlooked artifact in the history of colonial Greenlandic-Danish relations, as it focuses on the controversy of the Green-landic seal hunt and was financed as a propaganda vehicle by the Danish government and the Greenland Trade Department. The article draws on extensive archival research and references Zetterling's production notebooks and correspondence as well as official communication by the Royal Greenland Trade Department

MOBILTELEFONI - Vodafones plats i kundernas sinne

A1235 Problem: Denna uppsats skrivs i samarbete med konsultföretaget WSP och webbyrån Singleton. Dessa företag har tillsammans utvecklat erbjudandet Webbaserad egenkontroll, vilket lanserades i oktober 2004. Erbjudandet innehåller ett webbverktyg (utarbetat av Singleton) samt kompletterande konsulttjänst (utförs av WSP). Företagen vill kunna nå en större kundkrets med erbjudandet, men har begränsad kunskap om marknaden. Vodafone är en av tre stora mobiloperatörer på den svenska marknaden. Företaget måste positionera sig på ett sätt som är attraktivt i kundens sinne, för att kunna konkurrera framgångsrikt. Detta kan uppnås genom att förmedla ett klart och tydligt budskap till konsumenterna som beskriver de styrkor som Vodafone står för och som kunderna uppfattar tilltalande. Syftet är att undersöka hur Vodafone idag positionerar sig mot privatkunder, hur dessa uppfattar Vodafone och om de erbjuder det privatkunderna söker i ett mobilabonnemang. Den teori som tillämpats behandlar ansatser för tjänstepositionering, fem positioneringsstrategier samt fyra olika sätt som positionering kan misslyckas på. I denna uppsats har författarna utgått från en kvalitativ ansats för insamlandet av data i form av intervju och fokusgrupper. Kunderna uppfattar Vodafone som ett ungdomligt och lyxigt varumärke, som har välkända symboler och till viss del kan erbjuda individanpassade mobiltelefonlösningar. Företaget erbjuder dock inte det privatkunder eftersöker då de inriktar sig på att erbjuda mestadels många fördyrande extratjänster medan kunderna önskar motsatsen, låga priser och få tjänste

FILMS ON ICE Cinemas of the Arctic

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 0 7486 9417 4 (hardback) ISBN 978 0 7486 9418 1 (webready PDF) The right of the contributors to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI No. 249