Previously, we found that osteogenic responses to zirconia co-doped with niobium oxide (Nb ) are comparable with responses to titanium, which is widely used as a dental implant material. The present study aimed to evaluate the in vitro osteogenic potential of hydroxyapatite (HA)-coated zirconia by an aerosol deposition method for improved osseointegration. Surface analysis by scanning electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction proved that a thin as-deposited HA film on zirconia showed a shallow, regular, crater-like surface. Deposition of dense and uniform HA films was measured by SEM, and the contact angle test demonstrated improved wettability of the HA-coated surface. Confocal laser scanning microscopy indicated that MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblast attachment did not differ notably between the titanium and zirconia surfaces; however, cells on the HA-coated zirconia exhibited a lower proliferation than those on the uncoated zirconia late in the culture. Nevertheless, ALP, alizarin red S staining, and bone marker gene expression analysis indicated good osteogenic responses on HA-coated zirconia. Our results suggest that HA-coating by aerosol deposition improves the quality of surface modification and is favorable to osteogenesis.
The reduction of resistance and surface roughness obtained by CO 2 cluster jet were up to 81% and 42.3% compared with pristine graphene. The shifts in Raman spectra also implied chemical doping and "mono-layerization". Thus, CO 2 cluster jet has the potential for planarization, cleaning and flattening of the graphene.
Polymorphisms near the interleukin (IL) 28B gene have been proposed to be associated with spontaneous clearance of the hepatitis C virus. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between IL28B polymorphisms and the rate of spontaneous hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seroclearance by means of meta-analysis. MEDLINE/PubMed and EMBASE were utilized to identify relevant studies. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were analysed together to assess the strength of the association. Subgroup analyses were mainly performed according to ethnicity. A total of 4028 cases with persistent chronic hepatitis B and 2327 spontaneously recovered controls were included from 11 studies. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs12979860, had no significant association with HBsAg seroclearance (OR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.84-1.14 in the dominant model; OR = 1.00, 95% CI: 0.68-1.46 in the recessive model; and OR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.82-1.09 in the allelic model). The SNP, rs12980275, had no significant association either (OR = 1.03, 95% CI: 0.84-1.26 in the dominant model; OR = 1.17, 95% CI: 0.46-2.96 in the recessive model; and OR = 1.04, 95% CI: 0.86-1.26 in the allelic model), nor did the SNP, rs8099917 (OR = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.77-1.15 in the dominant model; OR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.34-1.62 in the recessive model; and OR = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.77-1.13 in the allelic model). Similarly, the results of subgroup analyses by ethnicity also showed no association in either the Asian group or non-Asian group. We concluded that there was no significant association between common IL28B polymorphisms and the rate of spontaneous HBsAg seroclearance.
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