Association between the microbiomes of tonsil and saliva samples isolated from pediatric patients subjected to tonsillectomy for the treatment of tonsillar hyperplasia

Oral microbes have the capacity to spread throughout the gastrointestinal system and are strongly associated with multiple diseases. Given that tonsils are located between the oral cavity and the laryngopharynx at the gateway of the alimentary and respiratory tracts, tonsillar tissue may also be affected by microbiota from both the oral cavity (saliva) and the alimentary tract. Here, we analyzed the distribution and association of the microbial communities in the saliva and tonsils of Korean children subjected to tonsillectomy because of tonsil hyperplasia (n = 29). The microbiome profiles of saliva and tonsils were established via 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Based on the alpha diversity indices, the microbial communities of the two groups showed high similarities. According to Spearman’s ranking correlation analysis, the distribution of Treponema, the causative bacterium of periodontitis, in saliva and tonsils was found to have a significant positive correlation. Two representative microbes, Prevotella in saliva and Alloprevotella in tonsils, were negatively correlated, while Treponema 2 showed a strong positive correlation between saliva and tonsils. Taken together, strong similarities in the microbial communities of the tonsils and saliva are evident in terms of diversity and composition. The saliva microbiome is expected to significantly affect the tonsil microbiome. Furthermore, we suggest that our study creates an opportunity for tonsillar microbiome research to facilitate the development of novel microbiome-based therapeutic strategies.Subject terms: Comparative genomics, Metagenomics     

Oxidative Epigallocatechin Gallate Coating on Polymeric Substrates for Bone Tissue Regeneration

Plant derived flavonoids have not been well explored in tissue engineering applications due to difficulties in efficient formulations with biomaterials for controlled presentation. Here, the authors report that surface coating of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) on polymeric substrates including poly (L‐lactic acid) (PLLA) nanofibers can be performed via oxidative polymerization of EGCG in the presence of cations, enabling regulation of biological functions of multiple cell types implicated in bone regeneration. EGCG coating on the PLLA nanofiber promotes osteogenic differentiation of adipose‐derived stem cells (ADSCs) and is potent to suppress adipogenesis of ADSCs while significantly reduces osteoclastic maturation of murine macrophages. Moreover, EGCG coating serves as a protective layer for ADSCs against oxidative stress caused by hydrogen peroxide. Finally, the in vivo implantation of EGCG‐coated nanofibers into a mouse calvarial defect model significantly promotes the bone regeneration (61.52 ± 28.10%) as compared to defect (17.48 ± 11.07%). Collectively, the results suggest that EGCG coating is a simple bioinspired surface modification of polymeric biomaterials and importantly can thus serve as a promising interface for tuning activities of multiple cell types associated with bone fracture healing.     

General Formation of Macro-/Mesoporous Nanoshells from Interfacial Assembly of Irregular Mesostructured Nanounits

Mesoporous core–shell nanostructures with controllable ultra-large open channels in their nanoshells are of great interest. However, soft template-directed cooperative assembly to mesoporous nanoshells with highly accessible pores larger than 30 nm, or even above 50 nm into macroporous range, remains a significant challenge. Herein we report a general approach for precisely tailored coating of hierarchically macro-/mesoporous polymer and carbon shells, possessing highly accessible radial channels with extremely wide pore size distribution from ca. 10 nm to ca. 200 nm, on diverse functional materials. This strategy creates opportunities to tailor the interfacial assembly of irregular mesostructured nanounits on core materials and generate various core–shell nanomaterials with controllable pore architectures. The obtained Fe,N-doped macro-/mesoporous carbon nanoshells show enhanced electrochemical performance for the oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline condition.     

Micromachining of circular ring microstructure by femtosecond laser pulses

In this paper, integration of interference phenomenon into femtosecond laser micromachining was reported as the femtosecond laser pulses were reshaped spatially to perform ablation. The generation of circular interference pattern was demonstrated by overlapping infrared femtosecond laser pulses. The interference pattern was subsequently focused on a copper substrate to ablate microstructures of concentric circular rings. The present technique is expected to open up new applications in the areas of rapid fabrication of micro-Fresnel lenses, hybrid microlenses and lens arrays.     

Wavelength and power monitoring of DWDM systems using scanning F–P filter calibrated with a F–P laser

A novel technique to overcome the long-term drift and hysteresis of a scanning Fabry–Perot filter was developed and applied to wavelength and power monitoring of DWDM system. By using the comb peaks generated by a temperature-stabilized, near threshold-biased Fabry–Perot diode laser as wavelength reference for the scanning Fabry–Perot filter, wavelength and power measurement accuracy of better than ±10 pm and 0.2 dB, respectively, were achieved.     

Active long pulse shaping technique of pulsed CO2 laser using multi-pulse discharge control

We describe the pulse forming of pulsed CO₂ laser using multi-pulse superposition technique. Various pulse shapes, high duty cycle pulse forming network (PFN) are constructed by time sequence. This study shows a technology that makes it possible to make various long pulse shapes by activating SCRs of three PFN modules consecutively at a desirable delay time with the aid of a PIC one-chip microprocessor. The power supply for this experiment consists of three PFN modules. Each PFN module uses a capacitor, a pulse forming inductor, a SCR, a high voltage pulse transformer, and a bridge rectifier on each transformer secondary. The PFN modules operate at low voltage by driving the primary of HV pulse transformer. The secondary of the transformer has a full-wave rectifier, which passes the pulse energy to the load in a continuous sequence.We investigated various long pulse shapes as different trigger time intervals of SCRs among three PFN modules. As a result, we could obtain laser beam with various pulse shapes and durations from about 250 to 1000 μs.     

The glow curve structure for the LiF:Mg,Cu,Na,Si TL detector with dopants concentrations and sintering temperatures

The glow curve structures for LiF:Mg,Cu,Na,Si TL detectors with various dopant concentrations and sintering temperatures were investigated for the improvement of the glow curve structure and sensitivity of the TL detector. The dopant concentrations were varied over the following ranges: Mg (0–0.25 mol%), Cu (0–0.07 mol%), Na and Si (0–1.5 mol%). With increasing Cu concentration, the intensity of the main peak was intensified and reached a maximum at a concentration of 0.05 mol%. The high-temperature peak was reduced. The dependency of the main peak intensity on the Mg concentration exhibits a sharp maximum at 0.2 mol%. The intensity of the high-temperature peak tends to rise slightly with increasing Mg concentration. It was found that the optimum concentrations of the dopants in the LiF:Mg,Cu,Na,Si TL material are Mg: 0.2 mol%, Cu: 0.05 mol%, Na and Si: 0.9 mol%. The dependency of the main peak intensity on sintering temperature exhibits a very sharp maximum at 830°C. The high-temperature peak was rapidly reduced after 825°C.