Titanium (Ti) has achieved extensive applications due to its excellent biocompatibility and mechanical properties. Plasma can enhance surface hydrophilia of Ti with decreased carbon contamination. The traditional conditions using a single gas plasma was for longer treatment time and more prone to being contaminated. We designed and developed novel and universal apparatus and methods with a special clamping device of non-thermal atmospheric plasma (NTAP) treatment using mixed gas for Ti surface activation. We systematically and quantitatively investigated the effective effects of NTAP-Ti. The surface water contact angle decreased by 100%, the carbon content decreased by 80% and oxygen content increased by 50% in the novel NTAP-Ti surfaces. NTAP treatment accelerated the attachment, spread, proliferation, osteogenic differentiation and mineralization of MC3T3-E1 mouse preosteoblasts in vitro. The percentage of bone-to-implant contact increased by 25–40%, and the osteoclasts and bone resorption were suppressed by 50% in NTAP-Ti in vivo. In conclusion, NTAP-Ti substantially enhanced the physical and biological effects and integration with bone. The novel and universal apparatus and methods with a special clamping device using gas mixtures are promising for implant activation by swiftly and effectively changing the Ti surface to a hydrophilic one to enhance dental and orthopedic applications.
Applying atmospheric plasma etching to the surface texturing process of silicon solar cells is a promising strategy for the current photovoltaic manufacturing industry due to its low equipment cost and good fabrication flexibility. This paper investigates the morphology evolution of the silicon surface etched by an Ar/CF4/O2 plasma and the associated optical properties. Results show that the generation of the light trapping structure on the polished silicon surface can be divided into two stages on the basis of the multi-scale morphological images and the quantitative evaluation of roughness parameters. The initial roughening stage mainly involves the formation of high-frequency nanoroughness that can act as an effective medium layer with a gradual refractive index. The resulting optical medium effect can reduce the surface reflectance within a broad range of wavelengths. At the next texturing stage, the low-frequency and high-amplitude microroughness dominates the morphology of the etched silicon surface. It features inverted parabolic structures with a high aspect ratio, which can cause multiple reflections of the incident light. The optical medium effect resulting from the nanoroughness is also inherited. Thus, the anti-reflectance property of the etched silicon surface is greatly improved. This work demonstrates that the light trapping properties of silicon surface etched by atmospheric plasma jet are a synergy of the optical medium effect and geometrical optics. Insights into the morphology evolution and optical properties of the textured surfaces are important for developing a new surface texturing process of silicon solar cells.
Background Oral tongue cancer is an extremely malignant tumor with high rate of lymphatic metastasis. Little is known about its invasion and metastasis mechanisms so far. Methods To clarify the main role of CCL2 in tongue cancer progression, we performed Transwell migration assay to confirm the effects of different concentrations of CCL2 on the migration and invasion of tongue cancer cells. Next, by siRNA interference of RhoA and Rac1 in LNMTca8113 cells, we are able to observe that these two molecules block the effect of CCL2 on cell migration and cytoskeleton reorganization by laser confocal microscopy. Moreover, the AKT phosphorylation level of PI3K downstream molecule under the action of CCL2 also be detected by qRT-PCR and western blot, so as to determine whether CCL2 affects the proliferation of LNMTca8113 cells through PI3K/AKT pathway. Finally, we analyzed the relationship between plasma CCL2 level and various clinicopathological parameters in patients with tongue cancer. Results: We found that tongue cancer cells treated with CCL2 migrate faster at first. CCL2 may enhance the invasion and migration of LNMTca8113 cells by activating RhoA and Rac1 to promote cytoskeleton reorganization. Promotion of LNMTca8113 migration induced by CCL2 was inhibited by silence of RhoA and Rac1. CCL2 could increase the phosphorylation of downstream Akt/PI3K signal and promoted the proliferation. Plasma concentration confirmed that the CCL2 level was closely related to the clinical stage of tongue cancer. Patients with lower CCL2 levels had a relatively longer progression-free survival and total survival time. Results After adding CCL2, the number of proliferation and migration of tongue cancer cells increased and the expression of RhoA and Rac1 rose up in LNMTca8113 cell line. The cytoskeleton reorganization was notable. Patients with higher serum levels of CCL2 had shorter progression-free survival than those with lower levels of CCL2 (P < 0.0001). Conclusions CCL2 promotes the invasion and metastasis of tongue cancer by PI3K/Akt pathway. The plasma level of CCL2 may predict prognosis of tongue cancer patients. CCL2 can serve as a potential therapeutic target for tongue cancer treatment.
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