On the material dependency of peri-implant morphology and stability in healing bone.

The microstructural architecture of remodeled bone in the peri-implant region of screw implants plays a vital role in the distribution of strain energy and implant stability. We present a study in which screw implants made from titanium, polyetheretherketone and biodegradable magnesium-gadolinium alloys were implanted into rat tibia and subjected to a push-out test four, eight and twelve weeks after implantation. Screws were 4 mm in length and with an M2 thread.

Comparing x-ray phase-contrast imaging using a Talbot array illuminator to propagation-based imaging for non-homogeneous biomedical samples.

Phase-contrast computed tomography can visualize soft tissue samples with high contrast. At coherent sources, propagation-based imaging (PBI) techniques are among the most common, as they are easy to implement and produce high-resolution images. Their downside is a low degree of quantitative data due to simplifying assumptions of the sample properties in the reconstruction.

Degradation behavior and osseointegration of Mg-Zn-Ca screws in different bone regions of growing sheep: a pilot study.

Magnesium (Mg)-based implants are highly attractive for the orthopedic field and may replace titanium (Ti) as support for fracture healing. To determine the implant-bone interaction in different bony regions, we implanted Mg-based alloy ZX00 (Mg < 0.5 Zn < 0.

Effects of Microbeam Irradiation on Rodent Esophageal Smooth Muscle Contraction.

Background: High-dose-rate radiotherapy has shown promising results with respect to normal tissue preservation. We developed an ex vivo model to study the physiological effects of experimental radiotherapy in the rodent esophageal smooth muscle.

Methods: We assessed the physiological parameters of the esophageal function in ex vivo preparations of the proximal, middle, and distal segments in the organ bath.

Fitter Fontans for future-Impact of physical exercise on cardiopulmonary function in Fontan patients.

Background: In Fontans, exercise tolerance is poorer compared to their healthy peers. Higher represents a strong predictor for mortality and morbidity in these patients. Cardiac rehabilitation programs have been shown to improve cardiopulmonary function in Fontans.

Prediction of High Bell Stages of Necrotizing Enterocolitis Using a Mathematic Formula for Risk Determination.

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) continues to cause high morbidity and mortality. Identifying early predictors for severe NEC is essential to improve therapy and optimize timing for surgical intervention. We present a retrospective study of patients with NEC, treated between 2010 and 2020, trying to identify factors influencing the severity of NEC.

Serial T2-Weighted Thoracic and Abdominal Lymphatic Imaging in Fontan Patients-New Insights into Dynamics of Lymphatic Abnormalities after Total Cavopulmonary Connection.

Lymphatic congestion in single-ventricle patients has been associated with increased morbidity and poor outcomes. Little is known about the dynamics of lymphatic abnormalities over time, on their association with clinical presentation or response to catheter interventions. This retrospective, single-center study describes Fontan patients who underwent at least two magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies.

COVID Vaccine-Associated Myocarditis in Adolescent Siblings: Does It Run in the Family?

The development of myocarditis after receiving messenger RNA vaccination against COVID-19 is well documented, particularly in adolescent and young adult males. We report a case of vaccine-associated myocarditis in adolescent brothers following their second dose of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech, Mainz, Germany). This report illustrates the need to better understand the mechanisms leading to myocarditis after mRNA vaccination.

Synchrotron radiation-based phase-contrast microtomography of human dental calculus allows nondestructive analysis of inclusions: implications for archeological samples.

: Dental calculus forms on teeth during the life of an individual and its investigation can yield information about diet, health status, and environmental pollution. Currently, the analytical techniques used to visualize the internal structure of human dental calculus and entrapped inclusions are limited and require destructive sampling, which cannot always be justified. We used propagation phase-contrast synchrotron radiation micro-computed tomography (PPC-SR- ) to non-destructively examine the internal organization of dental calculus, including its microstructure and entrapped inclusions, on both modern and archeological samples.

High-resolution analysis of the degradation and osseointegration of Mg-xGd implant screws in 3D.

Biodegradable magnesium (Mg) alloys can revolutionize osteosynthesis, because they have mechanical properties similar to those of the bone, and degrade over time, avoiding the need of removal surgery. However, they are not yet routinely applied because their degradation behavior is not fully understood. In this study we have investigated and quantified the degradation and osseointegration behavior of two biodegradable Mg alloys based on gadolinium (Gd) at high resolution.

A classification of abdominal lymphatic perfusion patterns after Fontan surgery.

Objectives: Complications after Fontan surgery have been associated with arise and classification of abnormal thoracic lymphatic perfusion pattern. This study compiles abnormal abdominal lymphatic perfusion patterns and investigates their impact on serum protein readings.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of patients who underwent magnetic resonance imaging with T2-weighted lymphatic imaging and serum protein measurements 6 months after having Fontan surgery.

DMBT1 expression and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio during necrotizing enterocolitis are influenced by impaired perfusion due to cardiac anomalies.

Background: Deleted in malignant brain tumors 1 (DMBT1) is involved in innate immunity and epithelial differentiation. It has been proven to play a role in various states of inflammation or hypoxia of fetal gastrointestinal and pulmonary diseases. Discrimination of pathogenesis in necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) based on cardiac status improves the understanding of NEC in different patient subgroups.

Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte and Platelet-to-Lymphocyte Ratio in Univentricular Patients From Birth to Follow-Up After Fontan-Predicting Lymphatic Abnormalities.

Reliable laboratory parameters identifying complications after Fontan surgery including the lymphatic abnormalities and the development of protein-losing enteropathy (PLE) are rare. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocte ratio (PLR) are inflammatory markers and have been studied to predict outcome and prognosis in various diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate NLR and PLR from birth to follow-up after Fontan and evaluate their use as prognostic parameters for single ventricle patients regarding the development of lymphatic malformations during follow-up.

Scaling the U-net: segmentation of biodegradable bone implants in high-resolution synchrotron radiation microtomograms.

Highly accurate segmentation of large 3D volumes is a demanding task. Challenging applications like the segmentation of synchrotron radiation microtomograms (SRμCT) at high-resolution, which suffer from low contrast, high spatial variability and measurement artifacts, readily exceed the capacities of conventional segmentation methods, including the manual segmentation by human experts. The quantitative characterization of the osseointegration and spatio-temporal biodegradation process of bone implants requires reliable, and very precise segmentation.

Common Genetic Variants Contribute to Risk of Transposition of the Great Arteries.

Rationale: Dextro-transposition of the great arteries (D-TGA) is a severe congenital heart defect which affects approximately 1 in 4,000 live births. While there are several reports of D-TGA patients with rare variants in individual genes, the majority of D-TGA cases remain genetically elusive. Familial recurrence patterns and the observation that most cases with D-TGA are sporadic suggest a polygenic inheritance for the disorder, yet this remains unexplored.

High-resolution and sensitivity bi-directional x-ray phase contrast imaging using 2D Talbot array illuminators.

Two-dimensional (2D) Talbot array illuminators (TAIs) were designed, fabricated, and evaluated for high-resolution high-contrast x-ray phase imaging of soft tissue at 10-20 keV. The TAIs create intensity modulations with a high compression ratio on the micrometer scale at short propagation distances. Their performance was compared with various other wavefront markers in terms of period, visibility, flux efficiency, and flexibility to be adapted for limited beam coherence and detector resolution.

Age- and sex-specific pediatric reference intervals for neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio, and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio.

Introduction: Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) are emerging biomarkers for systemic inflammation and have been shown to predict morbidity and mortality for several diseases. However, lack of pediatric reference intervals (RIs) prevents their comprehensive use in patient care and medical research.

Material And Methods: We calculated reference intervals and corresponding confidence intervals for NLR, PLR, and LMR from birth to 18 years using a data-mining approach: We analyzed 232 746 blood counts from 60 685 patients performed during patient care and excluded patients with elevated C-reactive protein and procalcitonin.

Evaporation kinetics in highly porous tetrapodal zinc oxide networks studied using in situ SRµCT.

Tetrapodal zinc oxide (t-ZnO) is used to fabricate polymer composites for many different applications ranging from biomedicine to electronics. In recent times, macroscopic framework structures from t-ZnO have been used as a versatile sacrificial template for the synthesis of multi-scaled foam structures from different nanomaterials such as graphene, hexagonal boron nitride or gallium nitride. Many of these fabrication methods rely on wet-chemical coating processes using nanomaterial dispersions, leading to a strong interest in the actual coating mechanism and factors influencing it.

Multimodal ex vivo methods reveal that Gd-rich corrosion byproducts remain at the implant site of biodegradable Mg-Gd screws.

Extensive research is being conducted on magnesium (Mg) alloys for bone implant manufacturing, due to their biocompatibility, biodegradability and mechanical properties. Gadolinium (Gd) is among the most promising alloying elements for property control in Mg alloy implants; however, its toxicity is controversial. Investigating Gd behavior during implant corrosion is thus of utmost importance.

Tolvaptan treatment in an adult Fontan patient with protein-losing enteropathy: a serial Na-MRI investigation.

Background: Protein-losing enteropathy (PLE) is a severe complication of the univentricular Fontan circulation and associated with disturbances in salt and water homeostasis. Fontan patients with PLE have a poor prognosis, with increased morbidity and mortality. Due to limited therapeutic strategies, patients are often treated only symptomatically.

Case Report: Trans-axillary Artery Access for Rescue Stent Implantation in an Infant With Retrograde Non-passable Aortic Coarctation.

Primary surgical repair remains the traditional treatment for patients with critical duct-dependent coarctation of the aorta (CoA). Initial surgical repair might not be possible or associated with higher risks if additional comorbidities arise in small infants and neonates. Balloon angioplasty (BA) has been described as a rescue strategy for these children.

Capillarity and active cell movement at mesendoderm translocation in the gastrula.

During gastrulation, leading edge mesendoderm (LEM) advances animally as a wedge-shaped cell mass over the vegetally moving blastocoel roof (BCR). We show that close contact across the BCR-LEM interface correlates with attenuated net advance of the LEM, which is pulled forward by tip cells while the remaining LEM frequently separates from the BCR. Nevertheless, lamellipodia persist on the detached LEM surface.