Comparative Analysis of Electrospun Silk Fibroin/Chitosan Sandwich-Structured Scaffolds for Osteo Regeneration: Evaluating Mechanical Properties, Biological Performance, and Drug Release.

An intensive idea of bone tissue engineering is to design regenerative nanofibrous scaffolds that could afford a natural extracellular matrix (ECM) microenvironment with the ability to induce cell proliferation, biodegradation, sustained drug release, and bioactivity. Even the mechanical properties and orientation of the nanofibers may enhance the performance of the scaffolds. To address this issue, we designed novel sandwich-like hybrid silk fibroin (SF)/silica/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofibers scaffolds.

Bioselective and Radiopaque Zinc-Biopolymeric Complex-Based Porous Biomaterials Promote Mammalian Tissue Ingrowth In Vivo While Inhibiting Microbial Biofilm Gene Expression and Biofilm Formation.

Metal-organic complexes have shown astounding bioactive properties; however, they are rarely explored as biomaterials. Recent studies showed that carboxymethyl-chitosan (CMC) genipin-conjugated zinc biomimetic scaffolds have unique bioselective properties. The biomaterial was reported to be mammalian cell-friendly; at the same time, it was found to discourage microbial biofilm formation on its surface, which seemed to be a promising solution to addressing the problem of trauma-associated biofilm formation and development of antimicrobial resistance.

Endothelial progenitor/stem cells in engineered vessels for vascular transplantation.

Background: Dysfunction of blood vessel leads to aneurysms, myocardial infarction and other thrombosis conditions. Current treatment strategies are transplantation of blood vessels from one part of the body to other dysfunction area, or allogenic, synthetic. Due to shortage of the donor, painful dissection, and lack of efficacy in synthetic, there is a need for alternative to native blood vessels for transplantation.

Leaf open time sinogram (LOTS): a novel approach for patient specific quality assurance of total marrow irradiation.

There is no ideal detector-phantom combination to perform patient specific quality assurance (PSQA) for Total Marrow (TMI) and Lymphoid (TMLI) Irradiation plan. In this study, 3D dose reconstruction using mega voltage computed tomography detectors measured Leaf Open Time Sinogram (LOTS) was investigated for PSQA of TMI/TMLI patients in helical tomotherapy. The feasibility of this method was first validated for ten non-TMI/TMLI patients, by comparing reconstructed dose with (a) ion-chamber (IC) and helical detector array (ArcCheck) measurement and (b) planned dose distribution using 3Dγ analysis for 3%@3mm and dose to 98% (D) and 2% (D) of PTVs.

An Assessment of Dosimetric Characteristics of Inline 2.5 Mega Voltage Unflattened Imaging X-Ray Beam.

Purpose: The aim of this work is to study the dosimetric parameters of newly introduced 2.5 MV imaging x-ray beam used as inline imaging to do setup verification of the patient undergoing radiation therapy. As this x-ray beam is in megavoltage range but comprises of a lower energy spectrum.

Dosimetric Effect of Rotational Setup Errors in Single-Isocenter Volumetric-Modulated Arc Therapy of Multiple Brain Metastases.

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the dosimetric effects of rotational uncertainties in patient positioning on target coverage in stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) of multiple brain metastases using single isocenter volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT).

Materials And Methods: Ten SRS cases with multiple brain metastases (2-8) planned with single isocenter non-coplanar VMAT technique were investigated in this study. Pitch, yaw and roll displacements of 1, 3 and 5° were simulated about isocenter along each axes and nine plans were obtained for each case.

Study of dosimetric properties of flattened and unflattened megavoltage x ray beam on high Z implant materials.

Purpose: Addition of high Z implants in the treatment vicinity or beam path is unavoidable in certain clinical situation. In this work, we study the properties of radiation interaction parameters such as mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), x ray beam transmission factor (indirect beam attenuation), interface effects like backscatter dose perturbation factor (BSDF) and forward dose perturbation factor (FDPF) for flattened (FF) and unflattened (UF) x ray beams.

Methods: MAC for stainless steel and titanium alloy was measured using CC13 chamber with appropriate buildup in narrow beam geometry.

Verification of Dosimetric Commissioning Accuracy of Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy and Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy Delivery using Task Group-119 Guidelines.

Aim: The purpose of this study is to verify the accuracy of the commissioning of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) based on the recommendation of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine Task Group 119 (TG-119).

Materials And Methods: TG-119 proposes a set of clinical test cases to verify the accuracy of IMRT planning and delivery system. For these test cases, we generated two sets of treatment plans, the first plan using 7-9 IMRT fields and a second plan utilizing two-arc VMAT technique for both 6 MV and 15 MV photon beams.

The "Skipped Segment Screw" Construct: An Alternative to Conventional Lateral Mass Fixation-Biomechanical Analysis in a Porcine Cervical Spine Model.

Study Design: Cadaveric biomechanical study.

Purpose: We compared the "skipped segment screw" (SSS) construct with the conventional "all segment screw" (ASS) construct for cervical spine fixation in six degrees of freedom in terms of the range of motion (ROM).

Overview Of Literature: Currently, no clear guidelines are available in the literature for the configuration of lateral mass (LM) screwrod fixation for cervical spine stabilization.

Comparison of Head Scatter Factor for 6MV and 10MV flattened (FB) and Unflattened (FFF) Photon Beam using indigenously Designed Columnar Mini Phantom.

To measure and compare the head scatter factor for flattened (FB) and unflattened (FFF) of 6MV and 10MV photon beam using indigenously designed mini phantom. A columnar mini phantom was designed as recommended by AAPM Task Group 74 with low and high atomic number materials at 10 cm (mini phantom) and at approximately twice the depth of maximum dose water equivalent thickness (brass build-up cap). Scatter in the accelerator (Sc) values of 6MV-FFF photon beams are lesser than that of the 6MV-FB photon beams (0.

Quantification of uncertainties in conventional plan evaluation methods in Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy.

Purpose: In Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) dose distributions tend to be more complex and heterogeneous because of the modulated fluences in each beamlet of every single beam. These dose-volume (DV) parameters derived from the dose volume histogram (DVH) are physical quantities, thought to correlate with the biological response of the tissues. The aim of this study was to quantify the uncertainty of physical dose metrics to predict clinical outcomes of radiotherapy.

Tensile, flexural and compressive strength studies on natural and artificial phosphate urinary stones.

Mechanical properties of renal calculi dictate how a stone interacts and disintegrates by shock wave or intracorporeal lithotripsy techniques. Renal stones of different compositions have large variation in their mechanical strength and susceptibilities to shock waves. Operated urinary stones and artificially developed stones using pharmaceutical methods, composed of phosphates were subjected to tensile, flexural and compressive strength studies using universal testing machine.