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Background: Approximately 10% of all bone fractures result in delayed fracture healing or non-union; thus, the identification of biomarkers and prognostic factors is of great clinical interest. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are known to be involved in the regulation of the bone healing process and may serve as functional markers for fracture healing., Aims and Methods: This systematic review aimed to identify common miRNAs involved in fracture healing or non-union fractures using a qualitative approach. A systematic literature search was performed with the keywords 'miRNA and fracture healing' and 'miRNA and non-union fracture'. Any original article investigating miRNAs in fracture healing or non-union fractures was screened. Eventually, 82 studies were included in the qualitative analysis for 'miRNA and fracture healing', while 19 were selected for the 'miRNA and fracture non-union' category., Results and Conclusions: Out of 151 miRNAs, miR-21, miR-140 and miR-214 were the most investigated miRNAs in fracture healing in general. miR-31-5p, miR-221 and miR-451-5p were identified to be regulated specifically in non-union fractures. Large heterogeneity was detected between studies investigating the role of miRNAs in fracture healing or non-union in terms of patient population, sample types and models used. Nonetheless, our approach identified some miRNAs with the potential to serve as biomarkers for non-union fractures, including miR-31-5p, miR-221 and miR-451-5p. We provide a discussion of involved pathways and suggest on alignment of future research in the field., (© 2023 The Authors. Clinical and Translational Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Shanghai Institute of Clinical Bioinformatics.)

Objectives: To compare gloss retention of four different resin composites with their corresponding CAD/CAM composite blocks., Materials and Methods: Four direct resin composites (Filtek Supreme XTE A2 Body (3M, USA), Tetric EvoCeram A2 (Ivoclar Vivadent, Liechtenstein), GrandioSO x-tra A2 (VOCO, Germany), G-aenial Universal A2 (GC, Japan)), and their corresponding CAD/CAM composite blocks were tested. A total of 288 samples were prepared and three different tests were performed: brushing, exposition to acidic fluoride gel and exposition to alcoholic solution. Gloss values were obtained by means of a glossmeter at T0 before aging and T60 after 1 h of aging., Results: Mean gloss values ranged from 0.9 after brushing tests to 79.0 after the alcohol test witnessing a high gloss variability depending on the materials and the aging test. Statistical analysis by means of two-way repeated measures ANOVA followed by Fisher's LSD post-hoc test revealed significant differences between materials, storage media, and their interactions., Conclusion: Gloss retention seems to be dependent on the composite type (direct or CAD/CAM block) and composite brand and varies in respect to the type of aging. CAD/CAM materials showed a higher resistance toward alcohol exposure., (© 2021 The Authors. Clinical and Experimental Dental Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: The SIMS-Trial (ISRCTN81072971) proved the effectiveness, in terms of patient's knowledge and care satisfaction, of an add-on information aid (personal interview with a physician using a navigable CD and take-home booklet) in 120 newly diagnosed patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) from five Italian centres., Objective: To scrutinize the experience of SIMS-Trial participants in order to gain better understanding of the effectiveness of the information aid and its components., Design: We performed (i) nine individual semi-structured interviews with a purposeful sample of SIMS-Trial patients who received the information aid, (ii) focus group meeting (FGM) with the physicians who conducted the personal interview, and (iii) FGM with patients' caring neurologists., Results: Patients' experience with the information aid was positive as it enhanced their understanding of their disease, being viewed as a guided tour of their medical condition. The physicians who conducted the personal interviews were also positive in their overall evaluation but noted an initial difficulty in using the CD. The caring neurologists had limited direct experience of the aid, and their views were confined to utility of the information aid in general. All participants considered the combination of personal interview, CD navigation and take-home booklet essential, but urged a more flexible scheduling of the personal interview. It also emerged that some content required revision and that the aid was unsuitable for patients with primary progressive MS., Conclusions: The results of the study further support the value of the aid and also provide important indications for improving it and refining indications for use., (© 2011 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

A dark band or rim along parts of the subendocardial border of the left ventricle (LV) and the myocardium has been noticed in some dynamic contrast-enhanced MR perfusion studies. The artifact is thought to be due to susceptibility effects from the gadolinium bolus, motion, or resolution, or a combination of these. Here motionless ex vivo hearts in which the cavity was filled with gadolinium are used to show that dark rim artifacts can be consistent with resolution effects alone., ((c) 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Dynamic contrast myocardial perfusion studies may benefit from methods that speed up the acquisition. Unaliasing by Fourier encoding the overlaps using the temporal dimension (UNFOLD), and a similar linear interpolation method have been shown to be effective at reducing the number of phase encodes needed for cardiac wall motion studies by using interleaved sampling and temporal filtering. Here such methods are evaluated in cardiac dynamic contrast studies, with particular regard to the effects of the choice of filter and the interframe motion. Four different filters were evaluated using a motion-free canine study. Full k-space was acquired and then downsampled to allow for a measure of truth. The different filters gave nearly equivalent images and quantitative flow estimates compared to full k-space. The effect of respiratory motion on these schemes was graphically depicted, and the performance of the four temporal filters was evaluated in seven human subjects with respiratory motion present. The four filters provided images of similar quality. However, none of the filters were effective at eliminating motion artifacts. Motion registration methods or motion-free acquisitions may be necessary to make these reduced FOV approaches clinically useful., (Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)