Purpose: The increasing demand for esthetically pleasing results has contributed to the use of ceramics for dental implant abutments. The aim of this study was to compare the biological response of ...epithelial tissue cultivated on lithium disilicate ($LS_2$) and zirconium oxide ($ZrO_2$) ceramics. Understanding the relevant physicochemical and mechanical properties of these ceramics will help identify the optimal material for facilitating gingival wound closure. Methods: Both biomaterials were prepared with 2 different surface treatments: raw and polished. Their physicochemical characteristics were analyzed by contact angle measurements, scanning white-light interferometry, and scanning electron microscopy. An organotypic culture was then performed using a chicken epithelium model to simulate peri-implant soft tissue. We measured the contact angle, hydrophobicity, and roughness of the materials as well as the tissue behavior at their surfaces (cell migration and cell adhesion). Results: The best cell migration was observed on $ZrO_2$ ceramic. Cell adhesion was also drastically lower on the polished $ZrO_2$ ceramic than on both the raw and polished $LS_2$. Evaluating various surface topographies of $LS_2$ showed that increasing surface roughness improved cell adhesion, leading to an increase of up to 13%. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that a biomaterial, here $LS_2$, can be modified using simple surface changes in order to finely modulate soft tissue adhesion. Strong adhesion at the abutment associated with weak migration assists in gingival wound healing. On the same material, polishing can reduce cell adhesion without drastically modifying cell migration. A comparison of $LS_2$ and $ZrO_2$ ceramic showed that $LS_2$ was more conducive to creating varying tissue reactions. Our results can help dental surgeons to choose, especially for esthetic implant abutments, the most appropriate biomaterial as well as the most appropriate surface treatment to use in accordance with specific clinical dental applications.
Secondary growth is a highly relevant process for dicot and gymnosperm species development. The process relies on vascular tissue proliferation and culminates with the thickening of stems, roots, and ...hypocotyls. The formation of tracheary elements is a critical step during this process. Among such tracheary elements, four different cell types are distinguished depending on their secondary cell wall pattern, which is exclusive for each tracheary cell type. Here we describe a method to isolate, dye, and recognize each of these tracheary cell types. The method is optimized to be performed in the Arabidopsis thaliana hypocotyl. This is because, in this species, the hypocotyl is the organ undergoing the largest proportion of secondary growth. Results allow for determining the relative amounts of each of the tracheary cell types.
This study was carried out in the weathering profile on gneiss in the Mandoga area (south Cameroon plateau), on the petrological characterization of the weathered phases. Gneiss is made up of quartz, ...feldspars, biotite, muscovite, garnet, kyanite, and zircon, with negative Eu anomaly (Eu/Eu* = 0.63). The profile shows three groups of phases: coarse saprolite at the bottom of the weathering horizon, the phases of the fine saprolite, and those of the uppermost part of the weathering profile. The mineralogical composition differs from the coarse saprolite to the top soil. All phases comprised kaolinite, quartz, and goethite. They characterize a pedoclimatic environment-rich in water, favorable to the stability of hydrated minerals. The negative Eu anomaly in all phases reflects the lithodependance of horizons at the expense of the gneiss, the parent rock. The Ce anomalies are linked to the pedodynamic conditions. In the same way, the behavior of REE in the different phases confirms the variation of the geochemical processes of the two pedodynamic domains. The phases from the fine saprolite are enriched in LREE than in HREE and match an overlapping of geochemical pedodynamic processes. Thus, the phases are marked by the geochemical signature along the weathering profile.
Single-cell RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) patients uncovers the inter- and intratumor heterogeneity among malignant cells and allows deconvolution of a massive ...bulk RNA-seq dataset to improve the stratification of low-risk ccRCC patients.
Intratumor heterogeneity (ITH) is a key feature in clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCCs) that impacts outcomes such as aggressiveness, response to treatments, or recurrence. In particular, it may explain tumor relapse after surgery in clinically low-risk patients who did not benefit from adjuvant therapy. Recently, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has emerged as a powerful tool to unravel expression ITH (eITH) and might enable better assessment of clinical outcomes in ccRCC.
To explore eITH in ccRCC with a focus on malignant cells (MCs) and assess its relevance to improve prognosis for low-risk patients.
We performed scRNA-seq on tumor samples from five untreated ccRCC patients ranging from pT1a to pT3b. Data were complemented with a published dataset composed of pairs of matched normal and ccRCC samples.
Radical or partial nephrectomy on untreated ccRCC patients.
Viability and cell type proportions were determined by flow cytometry. Following scRNA-seq, a functional analysis was performed and tumor progression trajectories were inferred. A deconvolution approach was applied on an external cohort, and Kaplan-Meier survival curves were estimated with respect to the prevalence of malignant clusters.
We analyzed 54 812 cells and identified 35 cell subpopulations. The eITH analysis revealed that each tumor contained various degrees of clonal diversity. The transcriptomic signatures of MCs in one particularly heterogeneous sample were used to design a deconvolution-based strategy that allowed the risk stratification of 310 low-risk ccRCC patients.
We described eITH in ccRCCs, and used this information to establish significant cell population–based prognostic signatures and better discriminate ccRCC patients. This approach has the potential to improve the stratification of clinically low-risk patients and their therapeutic management.
We sequenced the RNA content of individual cell subpopulations composed of clear cell renal cell carcinomas and identified specific malignant cells the genetic information of which can be used to predict tumor progression.
Around 10% of critically ill patients suffer acute kidney injury (AKI) requiring kidney replacement therapy (KRT), with a mortality rate approaching 50%. Although most survivors achieve sufficient ...renal recovery to be weaned from KRT, there are no recognized guidelines on the optimal period for weaning from KRT. A systematic review was conducted using a peer-reviewed strategy, combining themes of KRT (intermittent hemodialysis, CKRT: continuous veno-venous hemo/dialysis/filtration/diafiltration, sustained low-efficiency dialysis/filtration), factors predictive of successful weaning (defined as a prolonged period without new KRT) and patient outcomes. Our research resulted in studies, all observational, describing clinical and biological parameters predictive of successful weaning from KRT. Urine output prior to KRT cessation is the most studied variable and the most widely used in practice. Other predictive factors, such as urinary urea and creatinine and new urinary and serum renal biomarkers, including cystatin C and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), were also analyzed in the light of recent studies. This review presents the rationale for early weaning from KRT, the parameters that can guide it, and its practical modalities. Once the patient's clinical condition has stabilized and volume status optimized, a diuresis greater than 500 mL/day should prompt the intensivist to consider weaning. Urinary parameters could be useful in predicting weaning success but have yet to be validated.
•Sensitive and robust multiplex dPCR assays for the simultaneous detection of 11 ESR1mutations.•At least one mutation for 28.4% of the 109 HR+/HER2- Metastatic Breast Cancer patients ...tested.•Cross-validation with the multiplex dPCR assay used for the PADA-1 study, with 91% concordance.•ESR1mutation detection is significantly associated with liver metastases (p = 0.0091).•Very suited for ESR1mutations monitoring in the plasma of Metastatic Breast Cancer patients.
Early detection of ESR1 mutations is a key element for better personalization of the management of patients with HR+/HER2- Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC). Analysis of circulating tumor DNA from liquid biopsies is a particularly well-suited strategy for longitudinal monitoring of such patients.
Using the naica® three-color digital PCR platform, we developed a screening assay allowing the detection of 11 ESR1 mutations and designed a sequential strategy for precise mutation identification. We then applied this strategy in the analysis of plasma circulating cell-free DNA from 109 HR+/HER2- MBC patients and performed a double-blind comparison study on a subset of patients with the multiplex assay used at the Institut Curie (IC) for the PADA-1 study.
Thirty-one patients (28.4%) harboured at least one ESR1 mutation, with the following frequencies: D538G (41.03%), Y537S (25.64%), E380Q (10.26%), Y537N (10.26%), “(536–540)” (7.69%), Y537C (2.56%), and L536R (2.56%). The presence of ESR1 mutation(s) was significantly associated with liver metastases (p = 0.0091). A very good agreement (91%) was observed with the IC assay.
Our assays have proven to be robust and highly sensitive and are very well-suited for monitoring ESR1 mutations in the plasma of MBC patients.
Sorafenib is the standard treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Because of its unique toxicities, improving patients' tolerance merits close follow-up. Nurses can play a crucial role by ...leading a patient educational program (EP).
The aim of this study was to assess whether adding EP to usual care (UC) improves patient's care.
Since 2011, oncologists referred patients treated by sorafenib to the EP led by clinical nurses. The EP included a visit before the first administration, weekly telephone calls, and a visit with the nurse before each oncologist consultation. We retrospectively compared patients in the EP with those in UC followed by an oncologist and patients included in a clinical trial.
Since 2005, 129 patients were treated with sorafenib for hepatocellular carcinoma: 31 in the EP (24%), 22 in a clinical trial (17%), and 76 with UC (59%). Seventy-one percent of the patients in the EP had toxicities identified during a telephone call, which prompted symptomatic measures in 65% of the patients, leading to treatment modification before the planned on-site visit in 29% of the patients. Educational program patients required fewer dose reductions (39% vs 61% for UC, P = .04), and median time to first dose reduction was shorter with EP than with UC (25 vs 45 days, P = .036).
This study suggests a clinical benefit of EP related to improved toxicity management of sorafenib that resulted in fewer dose reductions.
Patients treated with sorafenib may benefit from an EP. Different types of EP should be compared prospectively, focusing on patients' quality of life.
To assess, in a real-life setting, the effectiveness of telemonitoring adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) using continuous glucose monitoring in a telemedicine experiment.
Experimentation in ...Telemedicine for the Improvement of Healthcare Pathways (ETAPES), an experimental telehealth programme for five chronic diseases, is supported by the French national healthcare system to promote telemedical care. Using data from a single university hospital centre, 72 adults were studied, including 42 subjects (58%) receiving insulin pump therapy and 30 (42%) receiving multiple daily injections, with a median age of 35.5 years 28.0; 45.0 and poorly controlled type 1 diabetes (T1D) with a mean ± standard error of mean (SEM) HbA1c value of 8.69 ± 0.13%. The primary study outcome was the difference in HbA1c values between baseline and the end of a 6-month follow-up. Other end points of interest were mean blood glucose, glucose management indicator (GMI) level and % time in range (3.9–10 mmol/L) or below or above range.
At month 6, mean HbA1c levels were significantly reduced by −0.5% (P < 0.001) as were also mean blood glucose levels (P = 0.015), with a significant increase of 6.75 ± 1.36% of time in range at month 3 and of 4.98 ± 1.4% at month 6. Such improvements did not depend on age, gender or type of insulin therapy, but were inversely correlated to initial HbA1c values on multivariate analysis (P < 0.001).
Although the use of telehealth monitoring offers efficacy and safety in the metabolic control of patients with T1D, it does not fulfil all of these patients’ clinical needs. As such, this new healthcare pathway cannot replace, but is a useful complement to, face-to-face in-person clinical visits.
Abstract Objective Ceramics are widely used materials for prosthesis, especially in dental fields. Despite multiple biomedical applications, little is known about ceramic surface modifications and ...the resulting cell behavior at its contact. The aim of this study is to evaluate the biological response of polished versus glazed surface treatments on lithium disilicate dental ceramic. Methods We studied a lithium disilicate ceramic (IPS e.max® Press, Ivoclar Vivadent) with 3 different surface treatments: raw surface treatment, hand polished surface treatment, and glazed surface treatment (control samples are Thermanox® , Nunc). In order to evaluate the possible modulation of cell response at the surface of ceramic, we compared polished versus glazed ceramics using an organotypic culture model of chicken epithelium. Results Our results show that the surface roughness is not modified as demonstrated by equivalent Ra measurements. On the contrary, the contact angle θ in water is very different between polished (84°) and glazed (33°) samples. The culture of epithelial tissues allowed a very precise assessment of histocompatibility of these interfaces and showed that polished samples increased cell adhesion and proliferation as compared to glazed samples. Significance Lithium disilicate polished ceramic provided better adhesion and proliferation than lithium disilicate glazed ceramic. Taken together, our results demonstrate for the first time, how it is possible to use simple surface modifications to finely modulate the adhesion of tissues. Our results will help dental surgeons to choose the most appropriate surface treatment for a specific clinical application, in particular for the ceramic implant collar.
Participants were trained on a temporal bisection task in which visual stimuli (a pink oval) of 400 ms and 1600 ms served as short and long standards, respectively. They were then presented ...comparison durations between 400 ms and 1600 ms, represented by faces expressing three emotions (anger, happiness, and sadness) and a neutral-baseline facial expression. Relative to the neutral face, the proportion of long responses was higher, the psychophysical functions shifted to the left, and the bisection point values were lower for faces expressing any of the three emotions. These findings indicate that the duration of emotional faces was systematically overestimated compared to neural ones. Furthermore, consistent with arousal-based models of time perception, temporal overestimation for the emotional faces increased with the duration values. It appears, therefore, that emotional faces increased the speed of the pacemaker of the internal clock. (Original abstract)
