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The results from network meta-analysis showed that most active treatment options had significantly better treatment outcome than placebo.

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The loss of overlying enamel or cementum exposes dentinal tubules and increases the risk of several dental diseases, such as dentin hypersensitivity (causing sharp pain and anxiety), caries, and pulp inflammation. This paper presents a fast-reacting, more reliable and biocompatible biomaterial that effectively occludes exposed dentinal tubules by forming a biomimetic crystalline dentin barrier. To generate this biomaterial, a gelatin-templated mesoporous silica biomaterial (CaCO3@mesoporous silica, CCMS) containing nanosized calcium carbonate particles is mixed with 30% H3PO4 at a 1/1 molar ratio of Ca/P (denoted as CCMS-HP), which enables Ca2+ and PO4(3-)/HPO4(2-) ions to permeate the dentinal tubules and form dicalcium phosphate dihydrate (DCPD), tricalcium phosphate (TCP) or hydroxyapatite (HAp) crystals at a depth of approximately 40 μm (sub-μ-CT and nano-SEM/EDS examinations). In vitro biocompatibility tests (WST-1 and lactate dehydrogenase) and ALP assays show high cell viability and mineralization ability in a transwell dentin disc model treated with CCMS-HP (p<0.05). The in vivo efficacy and biocompatibility analyses of the biomaterial in an animal model reveal significant crystal growth (DCPD, TCP or HAp-like) and no pulp irritation after 70 days (p<0.05). The developed CCMS-HP holds great promise for treating exposed dentin by growing biomimetic crystals within dentinal tubules. These findings demonstrate that the mesoporous silica biomaterials presented here have great potential for serving as both a catalyst and carrier in the repair or regeneration of dental hard tissue.

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Macrophages have a pivotal role in chronic inflammatory diseases (CIDs), so imaging and controlling activated macrophage is critical for detecting and reducing chronic inflammation. In this study, photodynamic selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) with photosensitive and macrophage-targeting bilayers were developed. The first layer of the photosensitive macromolecule was composed of a conjugate of a photosensitizer (rose bengal, RB) and a thiolated chitosan (chitosan-glutathione), resulting in a plasmonic coupling-induced red shift and broadening of RB absorption bands with increased absorption intensity. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and diphenylanthracene (DPA) quenching studies revealed that the SeNPs that were coated with the photosensitive layer were more effective than RB alone in producing singlet oxygen (O) under photoirradiation. The second layer of the activated macrophage-targetable macromolecule was synthesized by conjugation of hyaluronic acid with folic acid using an ethylenediamine linker. Proinflammatory-activated macrophages rapidly internalized the SeNPs that were covered with the targeting ligand, exhibiting a much stronger fluorescence signal of the SeNPs than did the nonactivated macrophages. Since proinflammatory-activated macrophage was known to generate a substantial amount of HO while the inflamed site generally caused inflammation-associated tissue hypoxia, the SeNPs were further modified with O self-sufficient function for photodynamic therapy. Catalase was immobilized on the SeNPs by the formation of disulfide bonds. Intracellular reduction of disulfide bonds induced the subsequent release of catalase, which catalyzed the decomposition of HO. The HO-depleting and O-generating photodynamic SeNPs efficiently killed activated macrophages and quenched the intracellular HO and NO that are associated with inflammation. The SeNPs may have potential as a theranostic nanomaterial to image and control the activation of macrophages.

This paper presents a planar triple-band MIMO antenna that meets GSM900/1800 and LTE2600 bands protocols. The antenna element contains three individual meander-line type Inverted-L radiators; the highest frequency band radiator is fed by a transmission line while the other two utilize the proximity coupling feeding mechanism driven by the highest band radiator. The MIMO antenna is incorporated with two symmetric triple-band antenna elements and two physical decoupling devices. The two antenna elements are closely spaced with one-fifteenth wavelength of the lowest band. The two decoupling devices, a T-shape slot and a meandering microstrip-line resonator, are built for the highest and the lowest frequency bands respectively. Meanwhile, a negligible mutual coupling effect in middle band is achieved by using a collinear placed transverse meander-line pair in the MIMO antenna. The antenna prototype measurement results show good impedance matching with low mutual coupling effect. The calculated Envelope Correlation Coefficient verifies the suitability of the proposed antenna for mobile wireless access applications.