Purpose The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the accuracy of our newly developed approach to digital dental model articulation. Materials and Methods Twelve sets of stone dental models ...from patients with craniomaxillofacial deformities were used for validation. All the models had stable occlusion and no evidence of early contact. The stone models were hand articulated to the maximal intercuspation (MI) position and scanned using a 3-dimensional surface laser scanner. These digital dental models at the MI position served as the control group. To establish an experimental group, each mandibular dental model was disarticulated from its original MI position to 80 initial positions. Using a regular office personal computer, they were digitally articulated to the MI position using our newly developed approach. These rearticulated mandibular models served as the experimental group. Finally, the translational, rotational, and surface deviations in the mandibular position were calculated between the experimental and control groups, and statistical analyses were performed. Results All the digital dental models were successfully articulated. Between the control and experimental groups, the largest translational difference in mandibular position was within 0.2 mm ± 0.6 mm. The largest rotational difference was within 0.1° ± 1.1°. The averaged surface deviation was 0.08 ± 0.07. The results of the Bland and Altman method of assessing measurement agreement showed tight limits for the translational, rotational, and surface deviations. In addition, the final positions of the mandibular articulated from the 80 initial positions were absolutely agreed on. Conclusion The results of our study have demonstrated that using our approach, the digital dental models can be accurately and effectively articulated to the MI position. In addition, the 3-dimensional surface geometry of the mandibular teeth played a more important role in digital dental articulation than the initial position of the mandibular teeth.
Photobiomodulation (PBM) has recently emerged in cellular therapy as a potent alternative in promoting cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation during tissue regeneration. Herein, a ...single-cell near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation system (830 nm) and the image-based approaches were proposed for the investigation of the modulatory effects in mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm), reactive oxygen species (ROS), and vesicle transport in single living human adipose mesenchymal stem cells (hADSCs). The irradiated-hADSCs were then stained with 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (H
DCFDA) and Rhodamine 123 (Rh123) to represent the ΔΨm and ROS production, respectively, with irradiation in the range of 2.5-10 (J/cm
), where time series of bright-field images were obtained to determine the vesicle transport phenomena. Present results showed that a fluence of 5 J/cm
of PBM significantly enhanced the ΔΨm, ROS, and vesicle transport phenomena compared to the control group (0 J/cm
) after 30 min PBM treatment. These findings demonstrate the efficacy and use of PBM in regulating ΔΨm, ROS, and vesicle transport, which have potential in cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation in cell-based therapy.
In this study, we investigated the signaling pathway involved in cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression and prostaglandin E
2 (PGE
2) release by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), a protein kinase C ...(PKC) activator, in human pulmonary epithelial cells (A549). PMA-induced COX-2 expression was attenuated by PKC inhibitors (Go 6976 and Ro 31-8220), a Ras inhibitor (manumycin A), a Raf-1 inhibitor (GW 5074), a MEK inhibitor (PD 098059), and an NF-κB inhibitor (PDTC), but not by a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (genistein) or a p38 MAPK inhibitor (SB 203580). PMA also caused the activation of Ras, Raf-1, and ERK1/2. PMA-induced activation of Ras and Raf-1 was inhibited by Ro 31-8220 and manumycin A. PMA-mediated activation of ERK1/2 was inhibited by Ro 31-8220, manumycin A, GW 5074, and PD 098059. Stimulation of cells with PMA caused IκBα phosphorylation, IκBα degradation, and the formation of a NF-κB-specific DNA–protein complex. The PMA-mediated increase in κB-luciferase activity was inhibited by Ro 31-8220, manumycin A, GW5074, PD 098059, and PDTC. Taken together, these results indicate that PMA might activate PKC to elicit activation of the Ras/Raf-1/ERK1/2 pathway, which in turn initiates NF-κB activation, and finally induces COX-2 expression and PGE
2 release in A549 cells.
Three prototypical light emitting conjugated polymers, two poly(
p-phenylene vinylenes) (MEH-PPV and DP10-PPV) and a poly(diphenylacetylene), were examined for chemosensor applications to detect ...explosive compounds such as 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and 2,4- and 2,6-dinitrotoluene (DNTs). All polymer thin films showed high fluorescence quenching sensitivity towards TNT and DNTs, indicating that a wide range of emissive conjugated polymers are potentially useful chemosensor materials for detecting landmines. The relative sensitivity of fluorescence quenching of the polymers by the analytes has been rationalized in terms of the vapor pressure of the analytes, the solubility parameters of the polymers and the analytes, and the relative energy levels of the polymers.
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