Remineralization of Demineralized Bone Matrixes with Preserved Fibrillary Structure as a Promising Approach to Obtain Highly Effective Osteoplastic Materials

The development of highly effective osteoplastic materials capable of providing bone tissue regeneration still remains an urgent and unresolved problem. In the presented work, an approach is proposed for the creation of biomimetic materials by the deposition of amorphous calcium phosphates on the surface of a xenogenic bone demineralized matrix under physiological conditions. Adsorption spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy showed the efficiency of deposition of amorphous calcium phosphates on the trabeculae surface. The additional inclusion of the calcium-binding protein albumin was found to increase the efficiency of CPC adsorption on the trabeculae surface during DBM remineralization in vitro. In the model of heterotopic implantation for 7 weeks the osteoinductive properties of the obtained material were demonstrated, expressed in intrabecular mineralization of bone trabeculae, neovascularization and pronounced synthetic activity of osteoblasts (synthesis and structurization of neocollagen directly on the implanted material). The data obtained in the course of this work will be used to create new highly effective osteoplastic materials

Fizičko-hemijske i biološke karakteristike dentalnih kalcijum silikatnih cemenata – Pregled literature

Dental cement materials have been developed with the aim to replace hard dental tissues. The first material used for pulp capping, root canal obturation, bifurcation perforation and apexification is calcium hydroxide (in 1920). A half century later, glass-ionomer cements began to suppress it as dentine substitutes. Finally, in the 1990s, calcium silicate (CS) material appeared in the dental research community as the most promising dentine substitute capable to adequately meet all clinical requirements. The aim of this paper is to present an overview of literature related to studies about CS materials taking into account their physical, chemical and biological properties and clinical applications. This review aims to discuss beneficial and adverse characteristics of CSs concerning interactions to the hard dentine and soft pulp/periodontal tissues. This review article deals with the literature data about currently commercially available CS concerning laboratory and clinical findings. 109 scientific articles were analyzed of which 62 references reported in vitro and 26 in vivo investigations while 21 references comprised reports, reviews and books dealing with both, in vitro and in vivo investigations. Although further data collection is necessary, CSs are promising materials that represent a gold standard for numerous dental clinical procedures. © 2019, Association of Chemists and Chemical Engineers of Serbia. All rights reserved

Fenebrutinib in H1 antihistamine-refractory chronic spontaneous urticaria: a randomized phase 2 trial

Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) is crucial for FcεRI-mediated mast cell activation and essential for autoantibody production by B cells in chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU). Fenebrutinib, an orally administered, potent, highly selective, reversible BTK inhibitor, may be effective in CSU. This double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial (EudraCT ID 2016-004624-35) randomized 93 adults with antihistamine-refractory CSU to 50 mg daily, 150 mg daily and 200 mg twice daily of fenebrutinib or placebo for 8 weeks. The primary end point was change from baseline in urticaria activity score over 7 d (UAS7) at week 8. Secondary end points were the change from baseline in UAS7 at week 4 and the proportion of patients well-controlled (UAS7 ≤ 6) at week 8. Fenebrutinib efficacy in patients with type IIb autoimmunity and effects on IgG-anti-FcεRI were exploratory end points. Safety was also evaluated. The primary end point was met, with dose-dependent improvements in UAS7 at week 8 occurring at 200 mg twice daily and 150 mg daily, but not at 50 mg daily of fenebrutinib versus placebo. Asymptomatic, reversible grade 2 and 3 liver transaminase elevations occurred in the fenebrutinib 150 mg daily and 200 mg twice daily groups (2 patients each). Fenebrutinib diminished disease activity in patients with antihistamine-refractory CSU, including more patients with refractory type IIb autoimmunity. These results support the potential use of BTK inhibition in antihistamine-refractory CSU

Expanding the stdpopsim species catalog, and lessons learned for realistic genome simulations

Simulation is a key tool in population genetics for both methods development and empirical research, but producing simulations that recapitulate the main features of genomic datasets remains a major obstacle. Today, more realistic simulations are possible thanks to large increases in the quantity and quality of available genetic data, and the sophistication of inference and simulation software. However, implementing these simulations still requires substantial time and specialized knowledge. These challenges are especially pronounced for simulating genomes for species that are not well-studied, since it is not always clear what information is required to produce simulations with a level of realism sufficient to confidently answer a given question. The community-developed framework stdpopsim seeks to lower this barrier by facilitating the simulation of complex population genetic models using up-to-date information. The initial version of stdpopsim focused on establishing this framework using six well-characterized model species (Adrion et al., 2020). Here, we report on major improvements made in the new release of stdpopsim (version 0.2), which includes a significant expansion of the species catalog and substantial additions to simulation capabilities. Features added to improve the realism of the simulated genomes include non-crossover recombination and provision of species-specific genomic annotations. Through community-driven efforts, we expanded the number of species in the catalog more than threefold and broadened coverage across the tree of life. During the process of expanding the catalog, we have identified common sticking points and developed the best practices for setting up genome-scale simulations. We describe the input data required for generating a realistic simulation, suggest good practices for obtaining the relevant information from the literature, and discuss common pitfalls and major considerations. These improvements to stdpopsim aim to further promote the use of realistic whole-genome population genetic simulations, especially in non-model organisms, making them available, transparent, and accessible to everyone

Lärares attityder till modersmål : En enkätstudie av två skolor

Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka vad lärare (på en högstadieskola och en skola med vuxenutbildning), som träffar elever med ett annat modersmål än svenska, har för attityd till det. Modersmålet har betydelse för lärandet inom olika skolämnen och omgivningens attityd till det språket spelar en viktig roll. Avsikten är också att undersöka vad dessa lärare har för uppfattning om vad andra elever på skolan har för inställning till, att eleverna talar ett annat modersmål än svenska på lektioner och raster. Resultaten mellan de båda skolorna och skolnivåerna ska jämföras för att se likheter och skillnader. Studien ska därför besvara följande frågor: Vad anser lärarna att det finns för olika för- och nackdelar med att elever använder ett annat modersmål än svenska i undervisningen? Hur tror lärarna att elevernas modersmål påverkar studieresultat/betyg? Hur möjliggör lärarna att elever, med ett annat modersmål än svenska, får användning för sitt språk i undervisningen? En enkätundersökning har genomförts. Resultatet visar att de flesta lärarna har en positiv inställning till andra modersmål än svenska. Men de menar att andra elever tycker illa om när det talas andra språk än svenska på lektionerna. Studien visar också att lärarna anser att elevernas modersmål främjar inlärningen i övriga ämnen, och att jämförelser mellan modersmålet och svenskan ökar deras förståelse. Högstadielärarna menar dock att brister i modersmålet kan vara ett problem, eftersom eleverna kanske inte kan alla begrepp som används inom skolämnena. Då blir det svårt att förstå dem på svenska också. Vuxenlärare nämner att andra elever kan uppleva utanförskap, om de inte förstår vad som sägs i klassrumssammanhang. Högstadielärarna tycker att modersmålet varken påverkar studieresultatet bra eller dåligt. Majoriteten av vuxenlärarna anser att elevernas modersmål påverkar betygen på ett negativt sätt. Lärarna uppmuntrar sina elever att använda modersmålet i undervisningen. Översättning av ord och begrepp från svenska till modersmålet är det vanligaste sättet. Lärarnas svar har också jämförts med elevsvaren i den enkätundersökning, som genomfördes till det självständiga arbetet hösten 2018

Reading homework in subject Swedish language for multilingual pupils

Den här uppsatsen är en del av pilotprojektet ”Läsläxa i ämnet svenska för flerspråkiga elever”. Projektet tar avstamp i forskning om läsning på ett andraspråk, inkluderande och flerkulturell undervisning samt samverkan mellan hem och skola kring läsläxor. Syftet med studien är att erhålla ny kunskap om hur läsläxor i ämnet svenska fungerar för flerspråkiga elever i årskurs 3 i grundskolan. Ett av de viktiga intresseområdena är lärarnas, elevernas och föräldrarnas erfarenheter, uppfattningar och frågor kring läsläxor och deras utformning. Sammanlagt genomfördes sex semistrukturerade intervjuer. Resultatet visar att lärarna är medvetna om flerspråkighet och att de arbetar med läsläxor på ett strukturerat sätt och ständigt utvärderar sitt arbete. De är engagerade i sitt arbete och försöker att ge rätt verktyg till de flerspråkiga eleverna så att de ska kunna utveckla lässtrategier och förbättra sin läsförståelse. Som det framgår från intervjuerna är eleverna medvetna om syftet med läsläxor och upplever att den största svårigheten är att förstå svåra ord i texten. När det gäller föräldrarna är de positivt inställda till skolan, lärarna och läsläxorna och trots sin korta skolbakgrund försöker att stötta sina barn enligt förmåga. Då läsläxorna enbart ges på svenska är det samtidigt tydligt att den enspråkiga normen dominerar.This is a part of a project called ”Reading Homeworks for Multilingual Pupils” that aims at monitoring the practices, behaviour, notions and current discourses in elementary classes in Sweden where multilingual pupils from migrant families are included. Six different interviews have been conducted with Swedish teachers, multilingual pupils and their parents in order to map the factors that influence the activity of reading homeworks both at home and at school. Both the construction of interview questions and the discussion of data gathered in participants’ answers have been influenced by nexus analysis where reading homework constitutes the social interaction platform on which all three parts, teachers, pupils and parents, meet. The results have been discussed through the lens of theories by J. Cummins, P. Gibbons and O. García. There has been a significant change in schools in Sweden with larger number of multilingual pupils that have Swedish as their second language, in the classrooms. That is why new requirements are laid regarding teachers’ competencies and practices. Interaction between teachers and parents and positive opinions about homework can influence pupils’ reading comprehension. Homework design and individual support of pupils in need are some of the issues observed in the paper.Läsläxa i ämnet svenska för flerspråkiga eleve

Remineralization of Demineralized Bone Matrixes with Preserved Fibrillary Structure as a Promising Approach to Obtain Highly Effective Osteoplastic Materials

The development of highly effective osteoplastic materials capable of providing bone tissue regeneration still remains an urgent and unresolved problem. In the presented work, an approach is proposed for the creation of biomimetic materials by the deposition of amorphous calcium phosphates on the surface of a xenogenic bone demineralized matrix under physiological conditions. Adsorption spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy showed the efficiency of deposition of amorphous calcium phosphates on the trabeculae surface. The additional inclusion of the calcium-binding protein albumin was found to increase the efficiency of CPC adsorption on the trabeculae surface during DBM remineralization in vitro. In the model of heterotopic implantation for 7 weeks the osteoinductive properties of the obtained material were demonstrated, expressed in intrabecular mineralization of bone trabeculae, neovascularization and pronounced synthetic activity of osteoblasts (synthesis and structurization of neocollagen directly on the implanted material). The data obtained in the course of this work will be used to create new highly effective osteoplastic materials

Genomic diversity landscapes in outcrossing and selfing Caenorhabditis nematodes.

Caenorhabditis nematodes form an excellent model for studying how the mode of reproduction affects genetic diversity, as some species reproduce via outcrossing whereas others can self-fertilize. Currently, chromosome-level patterns of diversity and recombination are only available for self-reproducing Caenorhabditis, making the generality of genomic patterns across the genus unclear given the profound potential influence of reproductive mode. Here we present a whole-genome diversity landscape, coupled with a new genetic map, for the outcrossing nematode C. remanei. We demonstrate that the genomic distribution of recombination in C. remanei, like the model nematode C. elegans, shows high recombination rates on chromosome arms and low rates toward the central regions. Patterns of genetic variation across the genome are also similar between these species, but differ dramatically in scale, being tenfold greater for C. remanei. Historical reconstructions of variation in effective population size over the past million generations echo this difference in polymorphism. Evolutionary simulations demonstrate how selection, recombination, mutation, and selfing shape variation along the genome, and that multiple drivers can produce patterns similar to those observed in natural populations. The results illustrate how genome organization and selection play a crucial role in shaping the genomic pattern of diversity whereas demographic processes scale the level of diversity across the genome as a whole