Nonordered dendritic mesoporous silica nanoparticles as promising platforms for advanced methods of diagnosis and therapies

Dendritic mesoporous silica nanoparticles (DMSNs) are a new generation of porous materials that have gained great attention compared to other mesoporous silicas due to attractive properties, including straightforward synthesis methods, modular surface chemistry, high surface area, tunable pore size, chemical inertness, particle size distribution, excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, and high pore volume compared with conventional mesoporous materials. The last years have witnessed a blooming growth of the extensive utilization of DMSNs as an efficient platform in a broad spectrum of biomedical and industrial applications, such as catalysis, energy harvesting, biosensing, drug/gene delivery, imaging, theranostics, and tissue engineering. DMSNs are considered great candidates for nanomedicine applications due to their ease of surface functionalization for targeted and controlled therapeutic delivery, high therapeutic loading capacity, minimizing adverse effects, and enhancing biocompatibility. In this review, we will extensively detail state-of-the-art studies on recent advances in synthesis methods, structure, properties, and applications of DMSNs in the biomedical field with an emphasis on the different delivery routes, cargos, and targeting approaches and a wide range of therapeutic, diagnostic, tissue engineering, vaccination applications and challenges and future implications of DMSNs as cuttingedge technology in medicine

The physiological cost index of walking with a powered knee ankle foot orthosis in subjects with poliomyelitis : A pilot study

Background: A powered knee ankle foot orthosis (KAFO) was developed to provide restriction of knee flexion during stance phase and active flexion and extension of the knee during swing phase of gait. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine its effect on the physiological cost index (PCI), walking speed and the distance walked in people with poliomyelitis compared to when walking with a KAFO with drop lock knee joints. Methods: Seven subjects with poliomyelitis volunteered for the study, and undertook gait analysis with both types of KAFO. Results: Walking with the powered KAFO significantly reduced walking speed (p=0.015) and the distance walked (p=0.004), and also it did not improve PCI values (p =0.009) compared to walking with the locked KAFO. Conclusion: Using a powered KAFO did not significantly improve any of the primary outcome measures during walking for poliomyelitis subjects

SADI, SHARE, and the in silico scientific method

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The emergence and uptake of Semantic Web technologies by the Life Sciences provides exciting opportunities for exploring novel ways to conduct <it>in silico</it> science. Web Service Workflows are already becoming first-class objects in “the new way”, and serve as explicit, shareable, referenceable representations of how an experiment was done. In turn, Semantic Web Service projects aim to facilitate workflow construction by biological domain-experts such that workflows can be edited, re-purposed, and re-published by non-informaticians. However the aspects of the scientific method relating to explicit discourse, disagreement, and hypothesis generation have remained relatively impervious to new technologies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we present SADI and SHARE - a novel Semantic Web Service framework, and a reference implementation of its client libraries. Together, SADI and SHARE allow the semi- or fully-automatic discovery and pipelining of Semantic Web Services in response to <it>ad hoc</it> user queries.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The semantic behaviours exhibited by SADI and SHARE extend the functionalities provided by Description Logic Reasoners such that novel assertions can be automatically added to a data-set without logical reasoning, but rather by analytical or annotative services. This behaviour might be applied to achieve the “semantification” of those aspects of the <it>in silico</it> scientific method that are not yet supported by Semantic Web technologies. We support this suggestion using an example in the clinical research space.</p

Nonordered dendritic mesoporous silica nanoparticles as promising platforms for advanced methods of diagnosis and therapies

Dendritic mesoporous silica nanoparticles (DMSNs) are a new generation of porous materials that have gained great attention compared to other mesoporous silicas due to attractive properties, including straightforward synthesis methods, modular surface chemistry, high surface area, tunable pore size, chemical inertness, particle size distribution, excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, and high pore volume compared with conventional mesoporous materials. The last years have witnessed a blooming growth of the extensive utilization of DMSNs as an efficient platform in a broad spectrum of biomedical and industrial applications, such as catalysis, energy harvesting, biosensing, drug/gene delivery, imaging, theranostics, and tissue engineering. DMSNs are considered great candidates for nanomedicine applications due to their ease of surface functionalization for targeted and controlled therapeutic delivery, high therapeutic loading capacity, minimizing adverse effects, and enhancing biocompatibility. In this review, we will extensively detail state-of-the-art studies on recent advances in synthesis methods, structure, properties, and applications of DMSNs in the biomedical field with an emphasis on the different delivery routes, cargos, and targeting approaches and a wide range of therapeutic, diagnostic, tissue engineering, vaccination applications and challenges and future implications of DMSNs as cutting-edge technology in medicine

Evaluation of gait symmetry in poliomyelitis subjects : Comparison of a conventional knee ankle foot orthosis (KAFO) and a new powered KAFO.

Background: Compared to able-bodied subjects, subjects with post polio syndrome and poliomyelitis demonstrate a preference for weight-bearing on the non-paretic limb, causing gait asymmetry. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the gait symmetry of the poliomyelitis subjects when ambulating with either a drop- locked knee ankle foot orthosis (KAFO) or a newly developed powered KAFO. Methods: Seven subjects with poliomyelitis who routinely wore conventional KAFOs participated in this study, and received training to enable them to ambulate with the powered KAFO on level ground, prior to gait analysis. Results: There were no significant differences in the gait symmetry index (SI) of step length (P=0.085), stance time (P=0.082), double limb support time (P=0.929) or speed of walking (p=0.325) between the two test conditions. However, using the new powered KAFO improved the SI in step width (P=0.037), swing time (P=0.014), stance phase percentage (P=0.008) and knee flexion during swing phase (p≤0.001) compared to wearing the dropped locked KAFO. Conclusion: The use of a powered KAFO for ambulation by poliomyelitis subjects affects gait symmetry in the base of support, swing time, stance phase percentage and knee flexion during swing phase

The role of signaling pathways in derivation and maintenance of mouse embryonic stem cells

Background: Stem cells are believed as the premier hope to regenerate the defected tissues. In this regard, enhancing the efficient derivation of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells, as the best model of pluripotent stem cell, facilitates capturing of the efficient derivation of human ES cells. Small molecules play a critical role in improving the efficiency of generating the pluripotent stem cells by inhibiting signaling pathways related to differentiation. This study aimed to evaluate the role of some molecular signaling pathways (e.g. JAK/STAT, MAPK/ERK, PI3K/AKT, WNT/GSK3 and TGF-β) in the cells involved in producing and maintaining ES cells.Materials and Methods: In this review study, the relevant articles to signaling pathways and embryonic stem cells were selected from PubMed database. In addition, the procedure for the efficient derivation of mouse ES cells was analyzed using small molecules under different conditions, like 2i and R2i culture. Results: The R2i culture condition increases the efficiency of generation and maintenance of ES cell lines from different types of mouse strain. Thus, findings showed that by inhibiting the MEK and TGF-β pathways in this process, the higher frequency of cells would be maintained at ground state of pluripotency with no differentiation. Conclusion: To understand the molecular effects of R2i culture condition on enhancing the efficiency of generating the mouse ES cells, the assessment of key pluripotency and differentiation gene expressions as well as the epigenetic changes within the ES cell derivation process seems to be essential

Ultrastructural localization of calcium in neuromuscular junctions of smooth and skeletal muscles after aminoglycoside antibiotics treatment

Aminoglycoside antibiotics are all capable of producing clinically significant neuromuscular paralysis. Since part of the mechanism of action of these antibiotics at neuromuscular junction is a calciumdependent inhibition of acetylcholine release, so this experiment was carried out in vitro on both somatic (isolated rat phrenic-nerve hemidiaphragm) and autonomic neuro-effector transmission (guinea-pig ileum) using gentamicin and amikacin, to determine the calcium contents at this level. Electron microscopic observations on gentamycinandlor amikacin-treated materials, using potassium pyroantimonate method suggest a reduction of internal calcium in nerve terminals of both preparations

Inhibition of gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity by lithium in rat

Daily intraperitoneal injection of gentamicin in doses of 2,4 and 10 mglkglday for 5 consecutive days produced proximal tubular necrosis in male albino rats as assessed by ultrastructural findings from electron microscopic observations. With respect to nephrotoxicity, aminoglycoside antibiotics (AGs) have been shown to concentrate in the lysosomes of kidney proximal tubular cells to inhibit the activities of phospholipases A and C, including a phospholipidosis, characterized by the formation of myeloid bodies. It has been suggested that the nephrotoxicity of AGs is related to the extent of this phospholipidosis. The concurrent therapy of lithium in doses of 5 and 10 mEqIkglday, administered subcutaneously, 24 hours prior to gentamicin administration for the same period, proved effective in reducing the gentamicin-induced phospholipidosis in kidney as judged by reduction in lysosomal myeloid bodies to an amount of 26-45 percent. It is well known that lithium interferes with phosphatidylinositol turnover and reduces the cellular availability of myoinositol which is needed for the resynthesis of membrane poliphosphoinositides. Thus, the inhibitory effect of lithium on gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity may be due to interference of lithium with phosphoinositide cycle