Gold Labeling Research Articles

Development of a Colloidal Gold Immunochromatographic Strip for Specific Detection of Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida.

Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida (Pdp) is characterised by high infectivity and mortality and wide distribution, resulting in substantial economic losses to the global aquaculture industry. Therefore, it is critical to develop a simple, rapid and accurate diagnostic method for Pdp detection. Herein, two Pdp-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs 1H7 and 6E6) were obtained, indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunofluorescence analysis confirmed that the mAbs specifically recognised the outer membrane of Pdp but could not recognise the other Gram-positive or Gram-negative bacteria, indicating good specificity. A colloidal gold immunochromatographic strip (CGICS) was developed here for Pdp detection by optimising the colloidal gold labeling and antibody coating conditions using 1H7 as a colloidal gold-labelled antibody and 6E6 as a coated antibody. The CGICS exhibited a detection limit of 1 × 105 CFU/mL for Pdp and a detection time of 10 min. Cross-reaction analysis revealed that the CGICS could specifically detect different Pdp isolates without cross-reaction with the other bacterial species or the subspecies P. damselae subsp. damselae. Stability analysis revealed that the CGICS were stored in closed plastic packaging at 25°C and 4°C for more than 8 months. The CGICS retained their detection limit after 6 months at 4°C, and 4 months at 25°C. Using tissues from the experimentally challenged Lateolabrax maculatus, the CGICS and polymerase chain reaction revealed a 100% coincidence rate. These findings indicated that the established CGICS exhibits high specificity and sensitivity. It is rapid and simple for Pdp detection, making it a potential on-site tool for Pdp detection in fish aquaculture.

Impact of S-PRG/Giomer and Bulk-fill technologies on the hygroscopic profile of resin composites under erosive condition

ObjectiveThe emergence of new resin composites (RCs) incorporating bioactive ingredients and/or used as bulk-fill materials aims to enhance restorative potential beyond just the mechanical properties. However, this innovation may affect their performance under clinically simulated conditions, such as erosive challenges (EC). This study evaluated the impact of different technologies on the hygroscopic properties of RCs. Materials and Methods: The evaluated materials were: Gold Label – GL (resin-modified glass-ionomer cement – control); Filtek Z350 – FZ (no bioactive control); Filtek One Bulk – FO (bulk-fill); Beautifil II – BII (bioactive/S-PRG); Beautifil Bulk – BB (bioactive/S-PRG + bulk-fill). Disk-shaped specimens (10 mm x1 mm) were prepared and evaluated by: 1) water sorption – WS and solubility – WSB (n = 10); 2) wettability – W (n = 6); 3) surface microhardness – SM (n = 6); 4) qualitative surface analysis by SEM (n = 3). Except for WS and WSB, tests were performed before and after EC. Data were analyzed by two-factor ANOVA and Tukey tests (p < 0.05). Results: Positive WS and negative WSB were observed for all materials. In terms of W, GL>BII>FZ>BB>FO. GL and BB exhibited similar/lower SM. EC hampered SM for all materials. Conclusions: It may be concluded that the composition and proportion of monomers have a greater influence on the hygroscopic profile of resin composites than the incorporation of bioactive components. Clinical significanceWhile renewed technologies have introduced components to enhance the performance and practicality of resin composites, actual clinical longevity depends on challenges such as erosive conditions. Bioactive ingredients seem to be beneficial without impairing the hygroscopic profile, whereas the monomers can interfere.

Evaluation of some mechanical and optical properties of modified glass ionomer cement with TiO2 and SiO2 nanoparticles

BackgroundGlass ionomer cements with extended setting time and inferior mechanical properties present significant challenges for dentists in clinical practice. Thus, various alterations aimed to enhance their properties.Aim of the studyTo study the effect of adding TiO2 and SiO2 nanoparticles on properties of conventional glass ionomer cement.Methods2.5 wt% TiO2 and 2.5 wt% SiO2 were added to the glass ionomer cement (GC Gold Label Luting & Lining Cement, Japan). Microhardness, compressive strength, setting time and color changes were evaluated using Vickers hardness tester, Universal testing machine, Gillmore needle apparatus and spectrophotometer, respectively.ResultsData were analyzed using SPSS 18. Mean, SD, and confidence intervals were reported. Normality was checked using Kolmogorov–Smirnov test. The experimental group revealed a higher hardness value than the control group. Meanwhile, Compressive strength results revealed a higher value of the control group than experimental group. Setting time was longer for the experimental group, in the meantime no perceptible color change for the experimental group was recorded.ConclusionsAdding 2.5 wt% TiO2 and 2.5 wt% SiO2 to conventional glass ionomer had a positive effect on microhardness without affecting the perceptible color.

Are glass ionomer cements bioactive? Analysis of ions release, pH, hydroxyapatite nanoprecursors formation, antibacterial activity, and cytotoxicity

ObjectiveThis study assessed the release of F−, Ca+2, PO4−3, alkalinizing activity, cytotoxicity, antibacterial activity, and the hydroxyapatite nanoprecursor formation of six commercial glass ionomer cements (GICs). Materials and methodsBioglass (Biodinâmica), Gold label 9 (GC), Vitrofil (DFL), Maxxion (FGM), Vidrion (SS WHITE) and Ionglass (Maquira) were evaluated. pH analysis was performed at different times in initial pH (pHi) 4 and 7 for 28 days. At day-28, the release of Ca+2, PO4−3 and F− was analyzed. Fibroblastic cells were used for cytotoxicity tests. Samples were evaluated at 24, 48 and 72 h. The hydroxyapatite precipitate formation was analyzed using SEM/EDS, FTIR/ATR and XRD, after 28 days. S. mutans biofilms were cultured over GIC disks to antibacterial activity assessment. ResultspH of all GIC were acidic over 28 days. Bioglass had greater F− release when compared to Gold Label (p < 0.05), at pHi 4. At pHi 7, there was no difference on F− release between GICs. Ionglass and Vitro fill had the highest Ca+2 and PO4−3 release. SEM indicated the presence of precipitates on the surface of all GICs and FTIR showed the presence of carbonate (1080/1413/1453 cm−1). XRD did not indicate crystalline hydroxyapatite precursors peaks. All GICs presented cytotoxicity when compared to the control group in 72h (p < 0.05). The GICs did not have antibacterial activity against S. mutans (p < 0.05). SignificanceGICs released ions that are important for tooth remineralization. However, GICs showed low pH, cytotoxicity, lack of antibacterial activity and the absence of precursors of hydroxyapatite indicated that materials were not bioactive.

In Vitro Evaluation Of Surface Roughness Of Three Class V Restorative Materials Following Prophylactic Instrumentation

Objective: This study was designed to determine which among the three Class V restorative materials - Omnichroma, GC Gold label Hybrid and Beautifil exhibits the least increase in surface roughness when subjected to manual or ultrasonic prophylactic instrumentation. Materials and methods: Class V cavity preparation were performed on 60 mandibular premolar teeth and randomly divided into 3 groups of 20 specimens each. They were restored with the assigned restorative material, i.e. Composite (Group 1), GIC (Group 2) and Giomer (Group 3). Restorations were finished and polished and then subjected to surface profilometry analysis for determining the surface roughness values followed by simulated aging by thermocycling. These groups were further subdivided into two subgroups consisting of 10 samples each and subjected to manual and ultrasonic prophylactic instrumentation followed by surface profilometric analysis. After polishing using prophylactic paste, once again surface profilometry analysis was done. The data thus obtained were subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS 26.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL) software. Results and discussion: The highest value for surface roughness was seen with Group 1 (Omnichroma) followed by Group 2 (GC Gold Label hybrid). Group 3 (Beautifil) exhibited lowest value for surface roughness along all the stages. Manual instrumentation groups showed increased surface roughness compared to ultrasonic instrumentation groups. Conclusion: Among the three tested materials, best surface finish at all stages of evaluation was seen with Beautifil, followed by GC Gold label hybrid and the lowest quality was seen with Omnichroma.

Prussian-Blue-Nanozyme-Enhanced Simultaneous Immunochromatographic Control of Two Relevant Bacterial Pathogens in Milk

Salmonella typhimurium and Listeria monocytogenes are relevant foodborne bacterial pathogens which may cause serious intoxications and infectious diseases in humans. In this study, a sensitive immunochromatographic analysis (ICA) for the simultaneous detection of these two pathogens was developed. For this, test strips containing two test zones with specific monoclonal antibodies (MAb) against lipopolysaccharides of S. typhimurium and L. monocytogenes and one control zone with secondary antibodies were designed, and the double-assay conditions were optimized to ensure high analytical parameters. Prussian blue nanoparticles (PBNPs) were used as nanozyme labels and were conjugated with specific MAbs to perform a sandwich format of the ICA. Peroxidase-mimic properties of PBNPs allowed for the catalytic amplification of the colorimetric signal on test strips, enhancing the assay sensitivity. The limits of detection (LODs) of Salmonella and Listeria cells were 2 × 102 and 7 × 103 cells/mL, respectively. LODs were 100-fold less than those achieved due to the ICA based on the traditional gold label. The developed double ICA was approbated for the detection of bacteria in cow milk samples, which were processed by simple dilution by buffer before the assay. For S. typhimurium and L. monocytogenes, the recoveries from milk were 86.3 ± 9.8 and 118.2 ± 10.5% and correlated well with those estimated by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay as a reference method. The proposed approach was characterized by high specificity: no cross-reactivity with other bacteria strains was observed. The assay satisfies the requirements for rapid tests: a full cycle from sample acquisition to result assessment in less than half an hour. The developed ICA has a high application potential for the multiplex detection of other foodborne pathogens.

Effect of Newer Intraorifice Barriers on the Fracture Resistance of Endodontically Treated Teeth: An In Vitro Study.

This study aimed to assess and compare the fracture resistance of endodontically treated teeth using three new intraorifice barrier materials. A total of 60 extracted human mandibular premolars having single roots were decoronated to 14 mm length, prepared up to rotary F3 ProTaper Gold files, and sealed with gutta-percha and AH Plus sealer. Specimens were divided into one control and three experimental groups (n = 15): Group 1, control; Group 2, Biodentine (Septodont, Saint Maur des Fosses, France); Group 3, resin-modified glass ionomer cement (RMGIC, GC Gold Label 2 LC, GC Corporation, Tokyo, Japan); and Group 4, flowable nanohybrid composite (G-aenial Universal Flo, GC Corporation, Tokyo, Japan). A 3 mm coronal gutta-percha was replaced with respective intraorifice barrier materials in the experimental groups, and the fracture resistance of all the groups was tested using the universal testing machine. One-way analysis of variance andTukey's post-hoc test were conducted. The experimental groups showed higher mean load values than the control group. The flowable composite showed the highest mean loads followed by Biodentine and RMGIC. The mean fracture resistance of flowable nanohybrid composite and Biodentine was significantly higher than that of the control. No statistically significant differencewas observed among the other groups. The flowable nanohybrid composite and Biodentine significantly improved resistance to fracture of endodontically treated teeth when compared to the control.

TO COMPARE THE SHEAR BOND STRENGTH OF RESIN MODIFIED GLASS IONOMER CEMENT TO COMPOSITE RESIN USING FOUR DIFFERENT ADHESIVE SYSTEMS: AN IN VITRO STUDY

Aim: To evaluate and compare shear bond strength of resin modified glass ionomer cement to composite resin using different adhesive systems. Materials and Methods: 60 acrylic blocks were prepared by drilling holes to retain resin modified glass ionomer cement (GC Gold Label 2 LC Light Cured Universal Restorative-GIC). Samples were then divided into five groups (n=12) based on the generation of bonding agent used. Group I- Fifth Generation Bonding agent – 3M ESPE Adper single bond 2 adhesive, Group II- Sixth Generation Bonding Agent – Shofu FL Bond II Primer Self Etching Agent, Group III- Seventh Generation Bonding Agent – GC Solare Universal, Group IV- Eighth Generation Bonding Agent – IvoclarTetric N-Bond Universal and Group V- Control group. All the 60 specimens were filled with composite resin - Nano-Hybrid Composite (IvoclarVivadentTetric N-Ceram) over resin-modified glass ionomer cement and light cured. Shear bond strength was determined using the Universal testing Machine and directing the shearing force on the composite andresin modified glass ionomer cement interface. Amount of force required for bond failure was recorded in Newton. The data was analysed using one-way ANOVA and Post hoc Tukey test for statistical analysis. Result: Group IV showed higher bond strength followed by Group III, Group II, Group I &amp; Group V. Conclusion: Bond strength of composite to resin modified glass ionomer cement was significantly higher for eighth generation bonding agent when compared to others.

Benchmarking of Management Excellence in The Agro-Industrial Sector in The Northwest Region of Romania

Industrial clusters nowadays represent a large part of the growth of SMEs (companies), jobs, and specialized regions. Regional growth is influenced by innovative clusters, which facilitate research, cost reduction, and new technical application. Clusters in the IT industry, renewable energy, furniture and agro-industry are popular in Romania's Northwest Region, with Cluj-Napoca being as the capital of gold clusters. The aim of the study was to examine the clustering strategy in Romania's northwestern region, Transylvanian Furniture Cluster, IT Transylvania Cluster, AgroTransilvania Cluster and TREC Transylvania Energy Cluster from the perspective of the Gold Label assessment. The study reveals that the four gold certified clusters share the following characteristics: a formal strategy, a specific strategy that addresses internationalization, innovation, research, development, and know-how, services primarily directed at members, international and transnational collaboration with multiple countries, and national and international funding support programs. The proposed recommendations and activities can contribute to improve each cluster's strategy.

Comparative Evaluation of GC Gold Label IX with GC Gold Label IX Extra and GC Gold Label Hybrid in Cavitated Lesions Prepared by Hand Instrumentation Technique in Primary Molars: An In Vivo Study.

The purpose of the present study was to compare the clinical efficacy of GC Gold Label IX, GC Gold Label IX Extra, and GC Gold Label Hybrid in occlusal surface cavities in primary molars prepared by hand instrumentation technique. Ninety primary molars were selected from the children according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The selected teeth were randomly allocated into the following three groups, with 30 teeth in each group, according to the restorative material used: group I: GC Gold Label IX, group II: GC Gold Label IX Extra, and group III: GC Gold Label Hybrid. Occlusal cavities were prepared using hand instruments. Caries removal efficacy was verified using caries detector dye. The restorative materials were mixed and condensed into the prepared cavities. The restorations were assessed using modified United States Public Health Service (USPHS) evaluation criteria at 1, 3, and 6 months. The results were tabulated and statistically analyzed using the Chi-squared test. No significant difference was found in terms of color match, marginal discoloration, marginal integrity, surface roughness, and secondary caries, but a significant difference was observed in terms of retention and anatomic form between group I and group III. GC Gold Label Hybrid exhibited better clinical performance with respect to GC Gold Label IX and comparable clinical performance with respect to GC Gold Label IX Extra. GC Gold Label Hybrid is a newly developed glass ionomer cement (GIC), and its clinical performance needs to be studied. Mittal M, Bajaj N, Bhola M, et al. Comparative Evaluation of GC Gold Label IX with GC Gold Label IX Extra and GC Gold Label Hybrid in Cavitated Lesions Prepared by Hand Instrumentation Technique in Primary Molars: An In Vivo Study. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2024;17(5):570-575.

Measuring interpersonal firearm violence: natural language processing methods to address limitations in criminal charge data.

Firearm violence constitutes a public health crisis in the United States, but comprehensive data infrastructure is lacking to study this problem. To address this challenge, we used natural language processing (NLP) to classify court record documents from alleged violent crimes as firearm-related or non-firearm-related. We accessed and digitized court records from the state of Washington (n = 1472). Human review established a gold standard label for firearm involvement (yes/no). We developed a key term search and trained supervised machine learning classifiers for this labeling task. Results were evaluated in a held-out test set. The decision tree performed best (F1 score: 0.82). The key term list had perfect recall (1.0) and a modest F1 score (0.65). This case report highlights the accuracy, feasibility, and potential time-saved by using NLP to identify firearm involvement in alleged violent crimes based on digitized narratives from court documents.

Adoption of the 2A Ribosomal Skip Principle to Track Assembled Virions of Pepper Mild Mottle Virus in Nicotiana benthamiana.

The coat protein (CP) is an important structural protein that plays many functional roles during the viral cycle. In this study, the CP of pepper mild mottle virus (PMMoV) was genetically fused to GFP using the foot-and-mouth disease virus peptide 2A linker peptide and the construct (PMMoV-GFP2A) was shown to be infectious. The systemic spread of the virus was monitored by its fluorescence in infected plants. Electron microscopy and immunocolloidal gold labelling confirmed that PMMoV-GFP2A forms rod-shaped particles on which GFP is displayed. Studies of tissue ultrastructure and virion self-assembly confirmed that PMMoV-GFP2A could be used to monitor the real-time dynamic changes of CP location during virus infection. Aggregations of GFP-tagged virions appeared as fluorescent plaques in confocal laser microscopy. Altogether, PMMoV-GFP2A is a useful tool for studying the spatial and temporal changes of PMMoV CP during viral infection.

Comparative evaluation of shear bond strength and modes of failure of five different reinforced glass ionomer restorative cements to TheraCal LC: An in vitro study.

The aim of the study is to evaluate and compare the shear bond strength (SBS) and modes of failure of different reinforced glass ionomer cement restorative materials such as GC IX, GC Gold Label 2 LC, Amalgomer CR, Equia Forte, and Secure Core Z to TheraCal LC. A total of 50 acrylic blocks, each containing a cylindrical hole in the center were prepared from self-cure acrylic resin and randomly divided into five groups and restored, namely Group A - TheraCal LC + GC Fuji IX, Group B - TheraCal LC + GC Gold Label 2 LC, Group C - TheraCal LC + Amalgomer CR, Group D - TheraCal LC + Equia Forte, and Group E - TheraCal LC + Secure Core Z. All the specimens were stored in artificial saliva at 37°C for 24 h before testing. The statistical tests used for the analysis of the result were: one-way ANOVA, Tukey multiple comparison test, and the Chi-squared test, and P < 0.05 is considered as the level of significance. Equia Forte showed the highest SBS, while GC type IX showed the lowest SBS with TheraCal LC. Equia Forte can be the restorative material of choice when TheraCal LC is used as a base materials for better clinical efficacy.

Effect of a calcium silicate cement and experimental glass ionomer cements containing calcium orthophosphate particles on demineralized dentin.

The study aims to evaluate the effect of a glass ionomer cement (GIC; Fuji 9 Gold Label, GC) with added calcium orthophosphate particles and a calcium silicate cement (CSC; Biodentine, Septodont) regarding ion release, degradation in water, mineral content, and mechanical properties of demineralized dentin samples. GIC, GIC + 5% DCPD (dicalcium phosphate dihydrate), GIC + 15% DCPD, GIC + 5% β-TCP (tricalcium phosphate), GIC + 15% β-TCP (by mass), and CSC were evaluated for Ca2+/Sr2+/F- release in water for 56days. Cement mass loss was evaluated after 7-day immersion in water. Partially demineralized dentin disks were kept in contact with materials while immersed in simulated body fluid (SBF) at 37°C for 56days. The "mineral-to-matrix ratio" (MMR) was determined by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. Dentin hardness and elastic modulus were obtained by nanoindentation. Samples were observed under scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Data were analyzed by ANOVA/Tukey test (α = 0.05). Ca2+ release from CSC and GIC (μg/cm2) were 4737.0 ± 735.9 and 13.6 ± 1.6, respectively. In relation to the unmodified GIC, the addition of DCPD or β-TCP increased ion release (p < 0.001). Only the dentin disks in contact with CSC presented higher MMR (p < 0.05) and mechanical properties than those restored with a resin composite used as control (p < 0.05). Mass loss was similar for GIC and CSC; however, the addition of DCPD or β-TCP increased GIC degradation (p < 0.05). Despite the increase in ion release, the additional Ca2+ sources did not impart remineralizing capability to GIC. Both unmodified GIC and CSC showed similar degradation in water. CSC was able to promote dentin remineralization.

Estimation of fluoride release and recharge potential among Zirconomer, GC Gold Label Hybrid, Ketac Molar, and Tetric Prime: An in vitro study

Abstract Background: The preventive role of fluoride in caries control is mainly due to the formation of fluorapatite crystals which are more resistant to acid attack. Glass ionomer cement (GIC), its newer modifications, and certain composites in which fluoride has been incorporated show fluoride release. Aim: This research aims to compare the initial fluoride liberated, the fluoride liberated after recharge, and the mean percentage reduction of modified varieties of GICs along with fluoride-releasing composites. Materials and Methods: Forty specimen blocks of the materials to be tested were divided into 5 groups (n = 8), namely Group 1: Zirconomer (SHOFU), Group 2: GC GOLD Label Hybrid (GC), Group 3: Tetric Prime (Ivoclar), Group 4: Ketac Molar (3M), and Group 5: TE-Econom Plus (Ivoclar). The initial fluoride liberated was measured on the 1st day, after 1 week, and after a fortnight, using a benchtop analyzer and total ionic strength adjustment buffer III analyzer. Then, fluoride application was done with fluoridated dentifrice using the hand brush method, and the samples were rechecked for fluoride release at similar time intervals, i.e. 1, 7, and 15 days. Results: Zirconomer showed significantly higher initial fluoride release. The minimum mass of fluoride was released by TE-Econom. A similar pattern was observed for fluoride liberation after recharge, with Zirconomer showing maximum re-release of fluoride and TE Econom showing maximum reduction in fluoride release after 15 days. Conclusion: Zirconomer exhibited high initial fluoride liberation and fluoride liberation after recharge following topical fluoride application. GC Gold Label Hybrid and Ketac Molar showed the least percentage reduction in the biweekly fluoride liberation which was remarkably lower than Zirconomer. Fluoride-releasing composites showed the least amount of initial fluoride liberation and fluoride liberation after recharge.

“Comparative Evaluation of Fracture Resistance of Custom Cast Post and Core, Pre-Fabricated Post and Core and CAD/CAM Fabricated Post and Core: An In-Vitro Study”

The aim of the study was to compare and evaluate fracture resistance of Custom Cast post and core, Pre-fabricated post and core and CAD/CAM fabricated post and core. Material and Methods: 60 transparent endoblocks with single root canal that simulated natural teeth were randomly divided into 3 groups of 20 endoblocks each. The working length of the root canal in the transparent endobloc was determined. The canals were prepared with K-file sizes 10,15 and 20 followed by Protaper Ni-Ti files (sizes S1, S2, F1 and F2); Dentsply by using the crown down technique to the full working length. Gutta percha was removed from the root canals with Peeso drills to a depth of 12 and post spaces were prepared in all groups with the special preparation drills of each system leaving 5mm of gutta percha in all specimens. For group 1, after root canal treatment of 20 samples, Prefabricated plastic burnout posts were coated with pattern resin and then inserted into the canal with slight pressure to take the canal impression which was further send for casting followed by using GC gold label glass ionomer resin for luting. For group 2, the Prefabricated EDELWEISS post and core were placed into the canal and the cement was allowed to set. For group 3 impression of the canal was made using pattern resin. The burnout post was scanned with a lab scanner and designing was done using the designing software. CAD-CAM fabricated post and core was placed into the canal and luted with the help of glass ionomer cement. Composite core fabrication was done and the specimens were secured in a universal load-testing machine at an angle of 1300 to the long axis of the tooth. Until fracture occurred, a compressive force was applied at a crosshead speed of 1 mm/min. The fracture loads were determined. Mean failure load for each group was recorded in N. Results: The mean fracture load of Group 1, was found to the maximum followed by Group 3 &amp; Group 2 samples, in decreasing order. Conclusion: The mean ......

Biodentine Achieves Better Vickers Microhardness and Diametral Tensile Strength When Compared to Glass Ionomer Cement - An Experimental Study

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ABSTRACT&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#x0D; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background and Objective:&lt;/strong&gt; Replacing lost dentin with an appropriate substitute has been challenging in recent years. Biodentine and conventional glass ionomers are used as dentin replacement materials. This study aimed to compare the Vickers microhardness (VHN), diametral tensile strength (DTS), and setting time of Biodentine and glass ionomer cement (GIC).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods:&lt;/strong&gt; This experimental study was conducted in the Department of Science of Dental Materials at Fatima Memorial College of Dentistry, Lahore, in collaboration with the Interdisciplinary Research Centre of Biomedical Materials, COMSATS Lahore from December 2022 to March 2023. A total of fifty disc-shaped samples (4 &amp;times; 2 mm) of Biodentine and GIC Gold Label 2 were fabricated to assess the VHN, DTS, and setting time after immersion in distilled water for 1 hour and after 3 days. Data were analyzed by applying the paired and independent t-tests using Statistical Package for Social Sciences 26.0.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results:&lt;/strong&gt; The mean VHN value of Biodentine and GIC Gold Label 2 cement was 23.4 &amp;plusmn; 1.5 and 17.5 &amp;plusmn; 1.27 after 1 hour and 31.9 &amp;plusmn; 1.66 and 29.6 &amp;plusmn; 1.58 after 3 days, respectively. DTS of Biodentine [7.0 &amp;plusmn; 0.91 mega pascal (MPa)] was significantly greater than GIC Gold label 2 (5.5 &amp;plusmn; 0.68 MPa) after 1 hour (p &amp;lt; 0.05). However, after 3 days, there was a slight increase in the DTS of Biodentine (9.3 &amp;plusmn; 1.53 MPa) while compared to GIC Gold label 2 (8.2 &amp;plusmn; 1.0 MPa) and this difference was not statistically significant (p &amp;gt; 0.05). Biodentine had a higher setting time than GIC Gold label 2, with an initial setting time of 6.7 minutes compared to 2.9 minutes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion:&lt;/strong&gt; GIC Gold label 2 has a shorter setting time than the but Biodentine which, however, showed higher Vicker&amp;rsquo;s microhardness and DTS. Therefore, Biodentine may be a more suitable substitute for dentine replacement than the GIC Gold label 2.&lt;/p&gt;

Research progress of colloidal gold technology

The colloidal gold technique is a technique that combines antigen-antibody immune reaction with colloidal gold labeling for antigen and antibody detection. This paper introduces the background, principle, application, advantages and disadvantages of this technique. The colloidal gold technique uses colloidal gold particles as markers to bind with antigens or antibodies and show red bands on the test strip. It has three methods: the double antibody sandwich method, competition method and indirect method. It can be used for things like environmental monitoring, food safety, and clinical diagnostics. It has the advantages of rapid, simple, low cost, and good stability, but also has the disadvantages of low sensitivity, poor specificity, difficult quantification, etc. In this paper, the background, principle, preparation method, application, advantages and disadvantages of colloidal gold are reviewed to provide readers with a comprehensive and systematic understanding. Although colloidal gold technology has made many achievements, there are still some challenges and difficulties in realizing the industrial application of colloidal gold, such as how to improve the stability, sensitivity, specificity and repeatability of colloidal gold.

Influence of Piper sarmentosum Aqueous Extract on the Expression of Osteocalcin in Glucocorticoid-induced Osteoporotic Rats

Secondary osteoporosis is mainly caused by prolong used of glucocorticoid treatment. The Piper sarmentosum leaf aqueous extract was found to exhibit bone formatting osteocalcin activity against Dexamethasone induced osteoporotic rats. Thirty-two Sprague-Dawley rats were divided equally into four groups - G1: Sham-operated control group given intramuscular (IM) olive oil as vehicle and normal saline orally as vehicle; G2: Adrenalectomized (Adrx) control group given IM dexamethasone (DEX) (120 μg/kg/day) and normal saline orally as vehicle; G3: Adrx group given IM DEX (120 μg/kg/day) and aqueous extract of Piper sarmentosum leaves (125 mg/kg/day) orally; and G4: Adrx group given IM DEX (120 μg/kg/day) and glycyrrhizic acid (GCA) (120 mg/kg/day) orally. Immunohistochemical method with gold labelling was used to label the osteocalcin protein. Silver brightener was used, sprinkled on gold with a size of 5 nm so that the resulting image can be seen more clearly using a light microscope. The osteocalcin protein was measured quantitatively based on nomenclature report of the ASBMR Histomorphometry Committee (American Society for Bone Mineral Research). The activity shown by immunohisto-gold expression and localization of osteocalcin was comparable with the reference, glycyrrhizic acid, a potent inhibitor of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase enzyme in RANKL-OPG pathway. As a conclusion, Piper sarmentosum may one day be utilized as an alternate treatment for individuals receiving long-term glucocorticoid therapy to prevent osteoporosis, therefore osteoporotic fractures.

Language model as an Annotator: Unsupervised context-aware quality phrase generation

Phrase mining is a fundamental text mining task that aims to identify quality phrases from context. Nevertheless, the scarcity of extensive gold labels datasets, demanding substantial annotation efforts from experts, renders this task exceptionally challenging. Furthermore, the emerging, infrequent, and domain-specific nature of quality phrases present further challenges in dealing with this task. Therefore, in this paper, we propose LMPhrase, a novel unsupervised context-aware quality phrase mining framework built upon large pre-trained language models (LMs). Specifically, we first mine quality phrases as silver labels by employing a parameter-free probing technique called Perturbed Masking on the pre-trained language model BERT (coined as Annotator). In contrast to typical statistic-based or distantly-supervised methods, our silver labels, derived from large pre-trained language models, take into account rich contextual information contained in the LMs. As a result, they bring distinct advantages in preserving informativeness, concordance, and completeness of quality phrases. Secondly, training a discriminative span prediction model heavily relies on massive annotated data and is likely to face the risk of overfitting silver labels. Alternatively, motivated by recent success in formulating language understanding problems such as named entity recognition and sentiment analysis as generation tasks, we formalize phrase tagging task as the sequence generation problem by directly fine-tuning on the Sequence-to-Sequence (Seq2Seq) pre-trained language model BART with silver labels (coined as Generator). Finally, we merge the quality phrases from both the Annotator and Generator as the final predictions, considering their complementary nature and distinct characteristics. Extensive experiments show that our LMPhrase consistently outperforms all the existing competitors across two different granularity phrase mining tasks, where each task is tested on two different domain datasets. The promising results show the superiority of our framework with pre-trained language model.