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Inadequate keratinized mucosa decreased cleansibility of implant sites and increased mucosal inflammation. There is a possibility that PA in implant sites caused more pronounced inflammatory response compared to contralateral tooth.

The correlation between spiral CT and physical measurement was high except in sites of very thin mucosa. Spiral CT can be considered an alternative method for the measurement of oral mucosal thickness. Because of the higher radiation exposure, caution should be exercised and radiation dosage versus clinical benefit assessment is required.

There is an age-associated reduction in the bone healing activity of bone morphogenetic protein -2 (BMP-2) that is currently addressed by administering higher doses of BMP-2 in elderly patients. The unwanted medical complications from high dose BMP-2 motivated this investigation to determine whether the addition of a low dose of fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2) could enhance the ability of a lower dose of BMP-2 to heal calvarial bone defects in old mice (18-20 months old). FGF-2 (5 ng) and BMP-2 (2 μg) were administered by a controlled release two-phase biomaterial scaffold placed into the bone defect. FGF-2 released more rapidly and completely in vitro than BMP-2 (40% vs 2%). In vivo, both BMP-2 and FGF-2+BMP-2 groups formed more new bone in calvarial defects than scaffold alone (p <0.001) or FGF-2 only groups (p < 0.01). The overall total volume of new bone was not statistically increased by the addition of FGF-2 to BMP-2 as measured by microCT, but the pattern of bone deposition was different. In old mice, but not young, there was enhanced bony fill in the central bone defect area when the BMP-2 was supplemented with FGF-2. Histological analysis of the center of the defect revealed an increased bone volume (%BV/TV (p = 0.004)) from the addition of FGF-2. These studies suggest that combining a low dose of FGF-2 with a low dose of BMP-2 has the potential to increase bone healing in old mice relative to BMP-2 alone.

Tycho's supernova remnant was observed by the XIS and HXD instruments onboard the Suzaku satellite on 2006 June 26-29 for 92 ks. The spectrum up to 30 keV was well fitted with a two-component model, consisting of a power-law with photon index of 2.7 and a thermal bremsstrahlung model with temperature of 4.7 keV. The former component can alternatively be modeled as synchrotron emission from a population of relativistic electrons with an estimated roll-off energy of around 1 keV. In the XIS spectra, in addition to the prominent Fe K α line (6.445 keV), we observe 1 for the first time significant K α line emission from the trace species Cr and Mn at energies of 5.48 keV and 5.95 keV, respectively. Faint K β lines from Ca (4.56 keV) and Fe (7.11 keV) are also seen. The ionization states of Cr and Mn, based on their line centroids, are estimated to be similar to that of Fe K α (Fe XV or XVI).

ObjectiveDipeptidyl peptidase (DPP)-4 is responsible for the degradation of several peptides that contain an alanine or proline at the penultimate position or position P1. DPP-4 inhibitors (DPP-4is) have protective effects against type-2 diabetes and several metabolic disorders.MethodsIn the present study, we examined the effects of des-fluoro-sitagliptin (DFS), a DDP-4i, on body adiposity and levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-α, PPAR-γ coactivator-1 (PGC-1), and uncoupling proteins (UCPs) in mice with diet-induced obesity.ResultsTreatment with DFS dose-dependently decreased the weight of white adipose tissue and serum levels of glucose, compared with controls, without influencing food intake (P<0.05). Additionally, DFS treatment increased the levels of PPAR-α, PGC-1, and UCPs in brown adipose tissue (BAT), and of PPAR-α and UCP3 in skeletal muscle (P<0.05). Furthermore, the effects on BAT PGC-1 and muscle PPAR-α levels were attenuated by treatment with the glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) antagonist exendin (9–39). Interestingly, hypothalamic levels of proopiomelanocortin (POMC) were increased by DFS treatment and the effects of DFS on PPAR-α, PGC-1, and UCP levels were attenuated in melanocortin (MC)-4 receptor-deficient mice.ConclusionsIn conclusion, high-dose DFS appeared to regulate body adiposity and UCPs in mice with diet-induced obesity, at least partly through a GLP-1 and/or MC-4 pathway.

Repair of bone defects remains a significant clinical problem. Bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2) is US Food and Drug Administration-approved for fracture healing but is expensive and has associated morbidity. Studies have shown that targeted overexpression of the 18-kDa low-molecular-weight fibroblast growth factor 2 isoform (LMW) by the osteoblastic lineage of transgenic mice increased bone mass. This study tested the hypotheses that overexpression of LMW would directly enhance healing of a critical size calvarial bone defect in mice and that this overexpression would have a synergistic effect with low-dose administration of BMP2 on critical size calvarial bone defect healing. Bilateral calvarial defects were created in LMW transgenic male mice and control/vector transgenic (Vector) male mice and scaffold with or without BMP2 was placed into the defects. New bone formation was assessed by VIVA-computed tomography of live animals over a 27-week period. Radiographic and computed tomography analysis revealed that at all time points, healing of the defect was enhanced in LMW mice compared with that in Vector mice. Although the very low concentration of BMP2 did not heal the defect in Vector mice, it resulted in complete healing of the defect in LMW mice. Histomorphometric and gene analysis revealed that targeted overexpression of LMW in osteoblast precursors resulted in enhanced calvarial defect healing due to increased osteoblast activity and increased canonical Wnt signaling.

We use Suzaku observations to measure the spatial variation of the Fe Kα line with radius in the Tycho supernova remnant. The Fe line widths show a significant decrease from a FWHM value of 210 eV at the center to 130 eV at the rim. Over the same radial range the line center energy remains nearly constant. These observations are consistent with a scenario in which the shell of Fe-emitting ejecta in Tycho is expanding