Diabetes mellitus is one of the major health problems in the world, the incidence and associated mortality are increasing. Inadequate regulation of the blood sugar imposes serious consequences for health. Conventional antidiabetic drugs are effective, however, also with unavoidable side effects. On the other hand, medicinal plants may act as an alternative source of antidiabetic agents. Examples of medicinal plants with antidiabetic potential are described, with focuses on preclinical and clinical studies. The beneficial potential of each plant matrix is given by the combined and concerted action of their profile of biologically active compounds.

https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/9/10/551/pdf

Antidiabetic Potential of Medicinal Plants and Their Active Components.

Although several therapeutic approaches are available for wound and burn treatment and much progress has been made in this area, room for improvement still exists, driven by the urgent need of better strategies to accelerate wound healing and recovery, mostly for cases of severe burned patients. Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a biopolymer produced by bacteria with several advantages over vegetal cellulose, such as purity, high porosity, permeability to liquid and gases, elevated water uptake capacity and mechanical robustness. Besides its biocompatibility, BC can be modified in order to acquire antibacterial response and possible local drug delivery features. Due to its intrinsic versatility, BC is the perfect example of a biotechnological response to a clinical problem. In this review, we assess the BC main features and emphasis is given to a specific biomedical application: wound dressings. The production process and the physical-chemical properties that entitle this material to be used as wound dressing namely for burn healing are highlighted. An overview of the most common BC composites and their enhanced properties, in particular physical and biological, is provided, including the different production processes. A particular focus is given to the biochemistry and genetic manipulation of BC. A summary of the current marketed BC-based wound dressing products is presented, and finally, future perspectives for the usage of BC as wound dressing are foreseen.

/pdf/bacterial-cellulose-a-versatile-biopolymer-for-wound-322dikm799.pdf

Bacterial cellulose: a versatile biopolymer for wound dressing applications

Silane adhesion mechanism in dental applications and surface treatments: A review.

In this systematic review, we aimed to compare conical versus nonconical implant-abutment connection systems in terms of their in vitro and in vivo performances. An electronic search was performed using PubMed, Embase, and Medline databases with the logical operators: "dental implant" AND "dental abutment" AND ("conical" OR "taper" OR "cone"). Names of the most common conical implant-abutment connection systems were used as additional key words to detect further data. The search was limited to articles published up to November 2012. Recent publications were also searched manually in order to find any relevant studies that might have been missed using the search criteria noted above. Fifty-two studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in this systematic review. As the data and methods, as well as types of implants used was so heterogeneous, this mitigated against the performance of meta-analysis. In vitro studies indicated that conical and nonconical abutments showed sufficient resistance to maximal bending forces and fatigue loading. However, conical abutments showed superiority in terms of seal performance, microgap formation, torque maintenance, and abutment stability. In vivo studies (human and animal) indicated that conical and nonconical systems are comparable in terms of implant success and survival rates with less marginal bone loss around conical connection implants in most cases. This review indicates that implant systems using a conical implant-abutment connection, provides better results in terms of abutment fit, stability, and seal performance. These design features could lead to improvements over time versus nonconical connection systems.

Performance of conical abutment (Morse Taper) connection implants: a systematic review.

Wear at the titanium-titanium and the titanium-zirconia implant-abutment interface: a comparative in vitro study.

Statement of problem The inconsistency of dentin bonding affects retention and microleakage. Purpose The purpose of this laboratory and finite element analysis study was to investigate the effects on the formation of a hybrid layer of an experimental silane coupling agent containing primer solutions composed of different percentages of hydroxyethyl methacrylate. Material and methods A total of 125 sound human premolars were restored in vitro. Simple class I cavities were formed on each tooth, followed by the application of different compositions of experimental silane primers (0%, 5%, 25%, and 50% of hydroxyethyl methacrylate), bonding agents, and dental composite resins. Bond strength tests and scanning electron microscopy analyses were performed. The laboratory experimental results were validated with finite element analysis to determine the pattern of stress distribution. Simulations were conducted by placing the restorative composite resin in a premolar tooth by imitating simple class I cavities. The laboratory and finite element analysis data were significantly different from each other, as determined by 1-way ANOVA. A post hoc analysis was conducted on the bond strength data to further clarify the effects of silane primers. Results The strongest bond of hybrid layer (16.96 MPa) was found in the primer with 25% hydroxyethyl methacrylate, suggesting a barely visible hybrid layer barrier. The control specimens without the application of the primer and the primer specimens with no hydroxyethyl methacrylate exhibited the lowest strength values (8.30 MPa and 11.78 MPa) with intermittent and low visibility of the hybrid layer. These results were supported by finite element analysis that suggested an evenly distributed stress on the model with 25% hydroxyethyl methacrylate. Conclusions Different compositions of experimental silane primers affected the formation of the hybrid layer and its resulting bond strength.

The influence of experimental silane primers on dentin bond strength and morphology: a laboratory and finite element analysis study.

In biomedical application, the fabrication of biodegradable scaffolds using 3D printing technology has vastly increased to accommodate the complex structure of substitutes In this study, PLLA and 

Three-dimensional printed biodegradable poly(l-lactic acid)/(poly(d-lactic acid) scaffold as an intervention of biomedical substitute

Hydrostatically Underbalanced Managed Pressure Cementing Enables Zonal Isolation in Narrow-Margin HPHT Exploration Well

Implant-abutment connection plays an important role in the long-term success of dental implant It should be able to resist bacterial leakage Colonization of bacterial in microgaps along implant-abutment interfaces will lead to inflammatory reaction One of the factor which have been identified to produce microgaps is micromotion This study was conducted to analyse micromotion and stress distribution on mating surface of internal conical and internal hexagonal implant-abutment connections Three dimensional (3D) model of mandible around the first molar was reconstructed from two dimensional (2D) CT data scan The reconstructed 3D model includes a layer of cortical bone, cancellous bone, mucosa, prosthesis of first molar and adjacent teeth Dental implant body and two-piece abutment with different implant-abutment connection were designed and inserted separately to simulate the replacement of the first molar Axial load were applied on the top centre of the prosthesis and on the adjacent teeth to simulate occlusal force Micromotion was observed to be lower around internal hexagonal abutments compared to internal conical However, internal hexagonal connection produce stress concentration at its vertices, thus increase the possibility to be fractured

Finite element analysis on internal hexagonal and internal conical abutment

Metal stents used in the treatment of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have revolutionized in treating atherosclerosis disease. Starting from the emergence of bare metal stent (BMS), this stent has been progressively developed into drug-eluting stent (DES) and biodegradable stent. By focusing on DES, various drugs have been used to coat metal stent with the aims to overcome in-stent restenosis and stent thrombosis. Even though, both problems are covered successfully by DES, however, DES projects long term complications including late stent thrombosis and delayed endotheliasation. Therefore, the utilisation of various drugs and polymers as a coating material was reviewed in this study to identify possible alternative to overcome the current DES problems. Ginseng is one of the drugs which possess several beneficial properties for the development of DES. Review on its implementation in cardiovascular applications suggests its potential in promoting endotheliasation while inhibiting the growth of smooth muscle cell to prevent late stent thrombosis.

/pdf/emerging-of-cardiovascular-metal-stent-a-review-on-drug-181lqg6pi1.pdf

Syafiqah Saidin

Papers

The influence of experimental silane primers on dentin bond strength and morphology: a laboratory and finite element analysis study.

Three-dimensional printed biodegradable poly(l-lactic acid)/(poly(d-lactic acid) scaffold as an intervention of biomedical substitute

Hydrostatically Underbalanced Managed Pressure Cementing Enables Zonal Isolation in Narrow-Margin HPHT Exploration Well

Finite element analysis on internal hexagonal and internal conical abutment

Emerging of cardiovascular metal stent: A review on drug-eluting stent towards the utilisation of herbal coating