RESUMEN
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) is one of the most major components in dentin bonding systems. Uncured HEMA is eluted through the dentin and harmful to pulp cells. The study aimed to investigate the death pattern, morphological change and factors of human dental pulp cells (HDPCs) cultured with low-dose HEMA. METHODS: HDPCs were cultured with low-dose concentration of HEMA at 0 mM (control), 0.125 mM, 0.25 mM, 1 mM, 2 mM and 4 mM on Day 3 and 5. The cell morphology was observed with F-actin immunocytochemical staining. The flow cytometry was used to analyze the death pattern. NF-κB and Trx-1 were measured using ELISA kits. RESULTS: The major death pattern was early apoptosis and late apoptosis. The morphological characteristics of apoptosis were observed clearly at 4 mM on Day 3 and Day 5. The phosphorylated NF-κB normalized to total NF-κB protein was significantly higher at 2 mM and 4 mM on Day 5. There was no difference of Trx-1 on Day 3, but significantly higher at 0.25 mM and 1 mM on Day 5. The trend line of phosphorylated NF-κB and Trx-1 showed highly positive correlations with HEMA concentration. CONCLUSION: The significant cellular morphology characteristics of apoptosis can be observed at higher dose and longer period after exposed to uncured HEMA. The expression of NF-κB was following the ratio of late apoptosis at longer exposure period. Clinically, the remaining dentin thickness should be enough to decrease HEMA concentration and thus to protect pulp cells free from harm.
Asunto(s)
Pulpa Dental , Metacrilatos , Apoptosis , Humanos , FN-kappa BRESUMEN
The standard World Health Organization procedure for vaccine development has provided a guideline for influenza viruses, but no systematic operational model. We recently designed a systemic analysis method to evaluate annual perspective sequence changes of influenza virus strains. We applied dnaml of PHYLIP 3.69, developed by Joseph Felsenstein of Washington University, and ClustalX2, developed by Larkin et al, for calculating, comparing, and localizing the most plausible vaccine epitopes. This study identified the changes in biological sequences and associated alignment alterations, which would ultimately affect epitope structures, as well as the plausible hidden features to search for the most conserved and effective epitopes for vaccine development. Addition our newly designed systemic analysis method to supplement the WHO guidelines could accelerate the development of urgently needed vaccines that might concurrently combat several strains of viruses within a shorter period.
Asunto(s)
Biología Computacional/métodos , Epítopos/inmunología , Vacunas contra la Influenza/inmunología , Orthomyxoviridae/genética , Humanos , Gripe Humana/prevención & control , Organización Mundial de la SaludRESUMEN
This paper presents MRI segmentation techniques to differentiate abnormal and normal tissues in Ophthalmology using fuzzy clustering algorithms. Applying the best-known fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering algorithm, a newly proposed algorithm, called an alternative fuzzy c-mean (AFCM), was used for MRI segmentation in Ophthalmology. These unsupervised segmentation algorithms can help Ophthalmologists to reduce the medical imaging noise effects originating from low resolution sensors and/or the structures that move during the data acquisition. They may be particularly helpful in the clinical oncological field as an aid to the diagnosis of Retinoblastoma, an inborn oncological disease in which symptoms usually show in early childhood. For the purpose of early treatment with radiotherapy and surgery, the newly proposed AFCM is preferred to provide more information for medical images used by Ophthalmologists. Comparisons between FCM and AFCM segmentations are made. Both fuzzy clustering segmentation techniques provide useful information and good results. However, the AFCM method has better detection of abnormal tissues than FCM according to a window selection. Overall, the newly proposed AFCM segmentation technique is recommended in MRI segmentation.