Established in 2006, TATA Africa Services (Nigeria) Limited operates as the nodal point for Tata businesses in West Africa. TATA Africa Services (Nigeria) Limited has a strong presence in Nigeria with investments exceeding USD 10 million. The company was established in Lagos, Nigeria as a subsidiary of TATA Africa Holdings (SA) (Pty) Limited, South Africa and serves as the hub of Tata’s operations in Nigeria and the rest of West Africa.

What About Us

Organ printing can be defined as layer-by-layer additive robotic biofabrication of three-dimensional functional living macrotissues and organ constructs using tissue spheroids as building blocks. The microtissues and tissue spheroids are living materials with certain measurable, evolving and potentially controllable composition, material and biological properties. Closely placed tissue spheroids undergo tissue fusion - a process that represents a fundamental biological and biophysical principle of developmental biology-inspired directed tissue self-assembly. It is possible to engineer small segments of an intraorgan branched vascular tree by using solid and lumenized vascular tissue spheroids. Organ printing could dramatically enhance and transform the field of tissue engineering by enabling large-scale industrial robotic biofabrication of living human organ constructs with "built-in" perfusable intraorgan branched vascular tree. Thus, organ printing is a new emerging enabling technology paradigm which represents a developmental biology-inspired alternative to classic biodegradable solid scaffold-based approaches in tissue engineering.

Organ Printing: Tissue Spheroids as Building Blocks

s ?gnised types or, as we should prefer to call them, genera, ^Cles and varieties of tumours. In carrying out this project, \\ve Particularly when making out the series of indexes that e required, we soon made acquaintance with difficulties of enclature and of classification. These difficulties occur 0Ve?*t daily in the course of routine examinations and are th^00.1116 or evaded in varying fashion. It may be argued cl \\ln the present state of our knowledge, a satisfactory j^Slficati?n of tumours is not possible, or that it is easy to Co^ e Ossifications from an armchair for one who is not deeply p0j^erned in using them. But those remarks seem to miss the

Classification of Tumours.

Three-dimensional (3D) printed scaffold and material selection for bone repair

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a common, morbid, and frequently lethal malignancy. To uncover its mutational spectrum, we analyzed whole-exome sequencing data from 74 tumor-normal pairs. The majority exhibited a mutational profile consistent with tobacco exposure; human papillomavirus was detectable by sequencing DNA from infected tumors. In addition to identifying previously known HNSCC genes (TP53, CDKN2A, PTEN, PIK3CA, and HRAS), our analysis revealed many genes not previously implicated in this malignancy. At least 30% of cases harbored mutations in genes that regulate squamous differentiation (for example, NOTCH1, IRF6, and TP63), implicating its dysregulation as a major driver of HNSCC carcinogenesis. More generally, the results indicate the ability of large-scale sequencing to reveal fundamental tumorigenic mechanisms.

The Mutational Landscape of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Bone tissue engineering using polymer based scaffolds have been studied a lot in last decades. Considering the qualities of all the polymers desired to be used as scaffolds, Polycaprolactone (PCL) polyester apart from being biocompatible and biodegradable qualifies to an appreciable level due its easy availability, cost efficacy and suitability for modification. Its adjustable physio-chemical state, biological properties and mechanical strength renders it to withstand physical, chemical and mechanical, insults without significant loss of its properties. This review aims to critically analyse the efficacy of PCL as a biomaterial for bone scaffolds.

Polycaprolactone as biomaterial for bone scaffolds: Review of literature

Background and objective Oral submucous fibrosis has been a scourge of southeastern Asia and its residents since time immemorial. Sscores of medicinal agents, singly and in combination, have been tried with not very encouraging results. In this study, therefore, we have restricted ourselves to different surgical modalities in the management of this condition and have tried to lay down indications of each surgical procedure. Study design A total of 100 patients of oral submucous fibrosis were included in this study and randomly allocated to different surgical groups, 25 patients per group. After excision of fibrous bands, group I had buccal fat pad graft, group II had tongue flap, group III had nasolabial fold flap, and group IV had split skin graft for correction of mucosal defect created after incising the fibrous bands. Results Mean preoperative mouth opening was 14.82 (SD 4.38) mm and ranged between 4.00 and 25.00 mm. Statistically there was no significant difference among the 4 groups ( P = .996). Mean postoperative mouth opening at 1 week was 35.79 (3.53) mm, ranging between 24.00 and 42.00 mm. Mean postoperative mouth opening at 1 month in group I was 36.36 (2.64) mm, in group II 35.36 (29) mm, in group III 35.64 (2.94) mm, and in group IV 35.80 (3.24) mm. Total score for pain, esthetics, and function at 1 month after surgery was highest (11.29) in group I, indicating better results. Conclusion The results were very encouraging, and we were able to lay down specific indications for each procedure. However, we believe buccal fat pad rotation is superior to other procedures, because it offers ease of surgery, can be performed under local anesthesia as a day care procedure, shows little postoperative morbidity, and has good patient acceptance, and there appear to be no contraindications to its use.

Retrospective comparison of surgical treatment modalities in 100 patients with oral submucous fibrosis.

Temporomandibular ankylosis is a disabling condition that affects hygiene and cosmetic appearance. Several interpositional grafts such as meniscus, muscle, fascia, skin, cartilage, fat, dura, alloplastic materials and xenografts have been used to prevent recurrence of ankylosis. We studied the advantages and disadvantages of dermis fat graft as an interposition material after arthroplasty and compared it with temporalis fascia interposition. Seventeen patients with temporomandibular ankylosis involving 20 joints were randomly divided into two groups; the first group had operations for interposition of dermis-fat graft that was taken from the groin. Patients in control group had operations to interpose temporalis fascia and muscle from the same surgical site. All were assessed by age, sex, etiology, clinical features and post surgical complications. The groups were matched in age and the male: female ratio was 0.89:1.The median duration of ankylosis was 7.3 (range 2-11) years. Postoperative and follow up interincisal mouth opening was satisfactory with good healing of the dermis-fat graft donor site. We conclude that the use of dermis fat grafts has minimal donor site morbidity, and is a safe and effective interposition material to prevent the recurrence of temporomandibular ankylosis.

Random control trial of dermis-fat graft and interposition of temporalis fascia in the management of temporomandibular ankylosis in children

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are prokaryotic macromolecules accumulated within the cytoplasm as granules. Due to their suitable mechanical properties, biocompatibility, degradation time, ability to be blended, surface modified, and form copolymers, it is widely used in medical devices and as scaffolds in bone tissue engineering. This review describes in brief the production and extraction sources, physico-chemical characteristic, mechanical properties, degradation rate and applications of various PHAs and its copolymers with special emphasis to its role as scaffolds in bone tissue engineering.

Poly hydroxyalkanoates (PHA): Role in bone scaffolds.

Background: There are different techniques for the sinus augmentation; the factors that contribute to the survival rate of sinus augmentation and dental implant placement are still the subject of discussion. So we compare the two different ways of sinus floor elevation: a) Lateral antrostomy as a one or two step procedure as direct method. b) Osteotome technique with a crestal approach as indirect method. Materials and Methods: A total of twenty partially edentulous patients in maxillary posterior region who opted for implant retained prosthesis but had a low sinus and deficient alveolar ridge within the age group of 20-55 years were taken up, 25 implants were placed in combination with bone grafting material for sinus augmentation. The final bone height was measured from Orthopantomogram. Post-operative Clinical Evaluation was based on pain, gingival inflammation status, stability, swelling and bone height. Statistical analysis was done by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (version 15.0) (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Results: The gain in bone height was significantly greater in direct procedure through lateral antrostomy (mean 8.5 mm) than in indirect method through crestal approach by osteotome technique (mean 4.4 mm). Conclusions: Osteotome technique can be recommended when more than 6 mm of residual bone height is present and an increase of 3-4 mm is expected. In case of more advanced resorption direct method through lateral antrostomy has to be performed. Both sinus elevation techniques did not seem to affect the implant success rate.

Divya Mehrotra

Papers

Polycaprolactone as biomaterial for bone scaffolds: Review of literature

Retrospective comparison of surgical treatment modalities in 100 patients with oral submucous fibrosis.

Random control trial of dermis-fat graft and interposition of temporalis fascia in the management of temporomandibular ankylosis in children

Poly hydroxyalkanoates (PHA): Role in bone scaffolds.

Direct vs. indirect sinus lift procedure: A comparison.