Effects of serum proteins on corrosion behavior of ISO 5832–9 alloy modified by titania coatings

Stainless steel ISO 5832–9 type is often used to perform implants which operate in protein-containing physiological environments. The interaction between proteins and surface of the implant may affect its corrosive properties. The aim of this work was to study the effect of selected serum proteins (albumin and γ-globulins) on the corrosion of ISO 5832–9 alloy (trade name M30NW) which surface was modified by titania coatings. These coatings were obtained by sol– gel method and heated at temperatures of 400 and 800 °C. To evaluate the effect of the proteins, the corrosion tests were performed with and without the addition of proteins with concentration of 1 g L−1 to the physiological saline solution (0.9 % NaCl, pH 7.4) at 37 °C. The tests were carried out within 7 days. The following electrochemical methods were used: open circuit potential, linear polarization resistance, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. In addition, surface analysis by optical microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) method was done at the end of weekly corrosion tests. The results of corrosion tests showed that M30NW alloy both uncoated and modified with titania coatings exhibits a very good corrosion resistance during weekly exposition to corrosion medium. The best corrosion resistance in 0.9 % NaCl solution is shown by alloy samples modified by titania coating annealed at 400 °C. The serumproteins have no significant effect onto corrosion of investigated biomedical steel. The XPS results confirmed the presence of proteins on the alloy surface after 7 days of immersion in proteincontaining solutions.The investigations were supported by the National Science Centre project No. N N507 501339. The authors gratefully acknowledge Dr. Janusz Sobczak and Dr. hab. Wojciech Lisowski from Institute of Physical Chemistry of PAS for XPS surface analyses

Biomaterials and regenerative technologies used in bone regeneration in the craniomaxillofacial region: Consensus report of group 2 of the 15th European Workshop on Periodontology on Bone Regeneration

Geistlich Pharma A

Combined Boyden-Flow Cytometry Assay Improves Quantification and Provides Phenotypification of Leukocyte Chemotaxis

Chemotaxis has been studied by classical methods that measure chemotactic and random motility responses in vitro, but these methods do not evaluate the total number and phenotype of migrating leukocytes simultaneously. Our objective was to develop and validate a novel assay, combined Boyden-flow cytometry chemotaxis assay (CBFCA), for simultaneous quantification and phenotypification of migrating leukocytes. CBFCA exhibited several important advantages in comparison to the classic Boyden chemotaxis assay (CBCA): 1) improved precision (intra-assay coefficients of variation (CVs): CBFCA-4.7 and 4.8% vs. CBCA-30.1 and 17.3%; inter-observer CVs: CBFCA-3.6% vs. CBCA 30.1%); 2) increased recovery of cells, which increased assay to provide increased sensitivity; 3) high specificity for determining the phenotype of migrating/attracted leukocytes; and 4) reduced performance time (CBFCA 120 min vs. CBCA 265 min). Other advantages of CBFCA are: 5) robustness, 6) linearity, 7) eliminated requirement for albumin and, importantly, 8) enabled recovery of migrating leukocytes for subsequent studies. This latter feature is of great benefit in the study of migrating leukocyte subsets. We conclude that the CBFCA is a novel and improved technique for experiments focused on understanding leukocyte trafficking during the inflammatory response

Método automático de clasificación de color en dientes humanos usando aprendizaje de máquina

Trabajo de InvestigaciónActualmente el proceso de identificación del color de los dientes para la fabricación de prótesis dentales es realizado manualmente por un experto que, utilizando un método de identificación visual, determina el color de las piezas dentales en la boca del paciente, usando guías de color como la VITA®. A pesar de que el método visual es el más utilizado para la identificación del color de dientes, este se ve afectado por distintas variables tales como: el cansancio del experto, la luminosidad en el ambiente, salud visual del especialista, entre otras que influyen en la identificación del color en los dientes. Los errores en la clasificación del color de los dientes pueden generar pérdidas de tiempo lo que implicaría en consecuencia sobrecostos que afectarían directamente al fabricante y la satisfacción final del cliente.1. Planteamiento del problema 2. Pregunta de investigación 3. Objetivos 4. Estado del arte 5. Marco de referencia 6. Alcances y limitaciones 7. Metodología 8. Diseño metodológico 9. Discusión y resultados 10. Conclusiones 11. Trabajos futuros 12. Bibliografía 13. ANEXOSPregradoIngeniero de Sistema

Complement Activity in the Egg Cytosol of Zebrafish Danio rerio: Evidence for the Defense Role of Maternal Complement Components

Most fish embryos that develop externally are exposed to an environment full of microbes. How they survive microbial attacks are not understood to date. Here we demonstrated that the egg cytosol prepared from the newly fertilized eggs of zebrafish Danio rerio is capable of killing the Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli, via in vitro assay system of the complement activity established. All findings indicate that it is the complement system operating via the alternative pathway that is attributable to the bacteriolytic activity. This is the first report providing the evidence for the functional role of the maternal complement components in fish eggs, paving the way for study of maternal immunity in other organisms whose eggs are fertilized in vitro

Ultra-porous titanium oxide scaffold with high compressive strength

Highly porous and well interconnected titanium dioxide (TiO2) scaffolds with compressive strength above 2.5 MPa were fabricated without compromising the desired pore architectural characteristics, such as high porosity, appropriate pore size, surface-to-volume ratio, and interconnectivity. Processing parameters and pore architectural characteristics were investigated in order to identify the key processing steps and morphological properties that contributed to the enhanced strength of the scaffolds. Cleaning of the TiO2 raw powder removed phosphates but introduced sodium into the powder, which was suggested to decrease the slurry stability. Strong correlation was found between compressive strength and both replication times and solid content in the ceramic slurry. Increase in the solid content resulted in more favourable sponge loading, which was achieved due to the more suitable rheological properties of the ceramic slurry. Repeated replication process induced only negligible changes in the pore architectural parameters indicating a reduced flaw size in the scaffold struts. The fabricated TiO2 scaffolds show great promise as load-bearing bone scaffolds for applications where moderate mechanical support is required

β-Diversity and Species Accumulation in Antarctic Coastal Benthos: Influence of Habitat, Distance and Productivity on Ecological Connectivity

High Antarctic coastal marine environments are comparatively pristine with strong environmental gradients, which make them important places to investigate biodiversity relationships. Defining how different environmental features contribute to shifts in β-diversity is especially important as these shifts reflect both spatio-temporal variations in species richness and the degree of ecological separation between local and regional species pools. We used complementary techniques (species accumulation models, multivariate variance partitioning and generalized linear models) to assess how the roles of productivity, bio-physical habitat heterogeneity and connectivity change with spatial scales from metres to 100's of km. Our results demonstrated that the relative importance of specific processes influencing species accumulation and β–diversity changed with increasing spatial scale, and that patterns were never driven by only one factor. Bio-physical habitat heterogeneity had a strong influence on β-diversity at scales <290 km, while the effects of productivity were low and significant only at scales >40 km. Our analysis supports the emphasis on the analysis of diversity relationships across multiple spatial scales and highlights the unequal connectivity of individual sites to the regional species pool. This has important implications for resilience to habitat loss and community homogenisation, especially for Antarctic benthic communities where rates of recovery from disturbance are slow, there is a high ratio of poor-dispersing and brooding species, and high biogenic habitat heterogeneity and spatio-temporal variability in primary production make the system vulnerable to disturbance. Consequently, large areas need to be included within marine protected areas for effective management and conservation of these special ecosystems in the face of increasing anthropogenic disturbance

Taxonomic Distinctness of Demersal Fishes of the California Current: Moving Beyond Simple Measures of Diversity for Marine Ecosystem-Based Management

BACKGROUND: Large-scale patterns or trends in species diversity have long interested ecologists. The classic pattern is for diversity (e.g., species richness) to decrease with increasing latitude. Taxonomic distinctness is a diversity measure based on the relatedness of the species within a sample. Here we examined patterns of taxonomic distinctness in relation to latitude (ca. 32-48 degrees N) and depth (ca. 50-1220 m) for demersal fishes on the continental shelf and slope of the US Pacific coast. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Both average taxonomic distinctness (AvTD) and variation in taxonomic distinctness (VarTD) changed with latitude and depth. AvTD was highest at approximately 500 m and lowest at around 200 m bottom depth. Latitudinal trends in AvTD were somewhat weaker and were depth-specific. AvTD increased with latitude on the shelf (50-150 m) but tended to decrease with latitude at deeper depths. Variation in taxonomic distinctness (VarTD) was highest around 300 m. As with AvTD, latitudinal trends in VarTD were depth-specific. On the shelf (50-150 m), VarTD increased with latitude, while in deeper areas the patterns were more complex. Closer inspection of the data showed that the number and distribution of species within the class Chondrichthyes were the primary drivers of the overall patterns seen in AvTD and VarTD, while the relatedness and distribution of species in the order Scorpaeniformes appeared to cause the relatively low observed values of AvTD at around 200 m. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These trends contrast to some extent the patterns seen in earlier studies for species richness and evenness in demersal fishes along this coast and add to our understanding of diversity of the demersal fishes of the California Current