Jupiter (United States)

This systematic review investigated the relationship between pre-operative vitamin D levels and implant osseointegration and implant-related outcomes. It also assessed studies involving vitamin D supplementation before implant placement. In vivo experimental and clinical studies published up to May 15, 2025, were reviewed. Out of 151 initially identified publications, 43 met the inclusion criteria. In total, 16 animal and 27 human studies were included. Most animal studies investigated vitamin D supplementation before implant placement (nine studies), whereas six studies explored vitamin D coatings on implant surfaces. Animal models included osteoporosis, diabetes mellitus, ultraviolet (UV) light deficiency, chronic kidney disease-induced uremia, and orchiectomy. A positive effect was found for vitamin D on implant osseointegration in 13 of the 16 studies. The human studies comprised three case reports, 10 retrospective studies, three prospective case series, eight prospective controlled trials (2-4 cohorts), and three randomized clinical trials (RCTs). Collectively, 22 of the 27 human studies supported a beneficial association between adequate vitamin D levels and improved implant osseointegration or reduced early implant failure. Vitamin D deficiency was associated with up to a fourfold increase in early implant failures. Pre-surgical supplementation with vitamin D3 enhanced implant osseointegration, improved bone-implant-contact (BIC), promoted peri-implant bone preservation, and reduced early implant failures, even among high-risk populations (i.e., diabetics). When implant-related parameters such as pocket depths, radiographic marginal bone levels, or implant stability were measured, significantly poorer outcomes were consistently observed in vitamin D-deficient groups. Evidence from both animal and human studies strongly indicates that vitamin D deficiency impairs both new bone formation and BIC. Supplementation, particularly in patients with systemic conditions, may improve implant osseointegration outcomes. Pre-operative screening and correction of vitamin D deficiency are recommended to optimize implant success. Additional well-designed prospective clinical trials and RCTs are needed to further elucidate the extent of the correlation between serum vitamin D deficiency and the risk of implant failure.

Small molecule ligands targeting structured RNA elementshold promisefor modulating RNA function, serving as chemical probes and potentialtherapeutics. In this study, the characterization of phenylglyoxal-basedcovalent probe designed to target unpaired guanine residues in structuredRNAs is reported. A structure-guided design strategy was employedto modify covalently unpaired guanines critical for flavin mononucleotide(FMN) binding to the FMN riboswitch. Covalent modification occursat the designed site and modulates riboswitch function in a cellularreporter system, highlighting the potential of covalent mechanismsof action for bioactive RNA ligands.

Nearly three decades have now passed since autologous platelet concentrates (APCs) were introduced into clinical practice. Harnessing the body's innate intrinsic capacity for healing, the concepts of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) emerged to concentrate growth factors and cells at supra-physiological levels. Nearly three decades ago, Professor Robert Marx demonstrated that PRP-obtained via centrifugation of whole blood with anti-coagulants-could accelerate healing across a wide range of indications in both dentistry and medicine. Subsequent research showed that eliminating anti-coagulants, leading to the development of PRF, resulted in an even more natural and faster healing process. In dentistry, APCs have been consistently shown to accelerate healing of both soft and hard tissues, either as standalone treatments or in combination with other biomaterials. PRF, in particular, has demonstrated benefits within several dental applications, spanning from root coverage, periodontal regeneration of intra-bony and furcation defects, ridge preservation, third molar extraction healing, sinus grafting, guided bone regeneration (GBR), and peri-implant soft tissue healing. Beyond dentistry, PRF has also proven effective in various medical indications-improving outcomes in the treatment of diabetic ulcers, managing joint pain and cartilage degradation in sports medicine, and enhancing outcomes in esthetic medicine. This review highlights the evolution of APCs, with a focus on their clinical applications and recent technological advancements. These include horizontal centrifugation techniques for PRF and more refined protocols for producing concentrated PRF (C-PRF). Lastly, the article introduces extended-PRF (e-PRF) membranes, created through heat-induced albumin denaturation, which prolong membrane degradation from the typical 2-3 weeks to up to 4 months. These innovative e-PRF membranes, composed of albumin gel and liquid PRF (Alb-PRF), are now being used as alternatives to collagen membranes in routine dental procedures.

The assessment of compound flood risk often relies on the assumption that the dependence structure between flood drivers (e.g., rainfall intensity, coastal water levels, and streamflow) remains stationary under changing climatic conditions. Yet, traditional approaches that inherently assume stationary dependencies, or rely solely on historical relationships, may misrepresent flood risk and fail to identify hotspots of emerging infrastructure vulnerabilities. This study aims to (a) characterize the dependence structure between compound flood drivers using a parsimonious parametric framework, and (b) explore potential changes in this structure under future climate scenarios, by leveraging outputs from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) regional climate projections. An ensemble of synthetic and historical storms is employed to simulate flood impacts across the Greater Boston region, forming the basis for statistically modeling the conditional dependence of the main flood drivers. Changes in the marginal distributions of these drivers, informed by CMIP6 simulations under various Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), are also integrated into the dependence framework to evaluate future trajectories of compound flood risk. The findings focus on determining whether shifts in the dependence structure offer a more nuanced understanding of evolving flood risk profiles, as well as identifying areas where traditional stationary assumptions may result in systematic errors. Ultimately, the study advances understanding of the dynamic interplay between flood drivers under future climate scenarios, and supports the development of adaptation strategies for regions vulnerable to compound flooding.

We report a stereo-differentiating dynamic kinetic asymmetric Rh(I)-catalyzed Pauson-Khand reaction, which provides access to an array of thapsigargin stereoisomers. Using catalyst-control, a consistent stereochemical outcome is achieved at C2─for both matched and mismatched cases─regardless of the allene-yne C8 stereochemistry. The stereochemical configuration for all stereoisomers was assigned by comparing experimental vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) and 13C NMR to DFT-computed spectra. DFT calculations of the transition-state structures corroborate experimentally observed stereoselectivity and identify key stabilizing and destabilizing interactions between the chiral ligand and allene-yne PKR substrates. The robust nature of our catalyst-ligand system places the total synthesis of thapsigargin and its stereoisomeric analogues within reach.

This study investigates the potential for parrots to engage in functional communication using speech board interfaces. We examine whether the interactions of a Goffin's cockatoo with her speech board correspond to established functions of communication identified by Jakobson's linguistic model and whether there is correspondence with biological functions in animal communication. Additionally, to explore the bird's intentionality we examine her persistence in making requests via speech board selections, her ability to seek out displaced representations of preferred foods, and her response to unexpected outcomes. Our findings suggest that the cockatoo's interactions with the speech board align with established linguistic and biological communication functions and indicate intentional communication on her part. This has implications for studying parrot cognition and, thus, for designing speech board interfaces that might better support parrots’ communication abilities.

Abstract Frailty is quantified as the accumulation of health deficits over an organism’s lifetime and gives a measure of the overall health of an organism. Preliminary studies have found an association between frailty and some of the hallmarks of aging including inflammation and senescence. However, the molecular underpinnings of frailty, and whether the mechanisms of frailty are distinct from or overlap those of aging is unknown. Previously we developed clocks based on frailty assessments that accurately predict age and lifespan in older male mice. Here, we expand these clocks to predict age, lifespan and frailty itself in younger, and also female mice. Additionally, we incorporate molecular measures including blood cell composition, plasma metabolomics, PBMC DNA methylation and stool microbial diversity measures into the clocks. These clocks provide important tools for the field, and also provide an indication of the molecular underpinnings of frailty and sex differences in these.

Abrupt aggregation of misfolded proteins is a hallmark of many medical pathologies including diabetes type 2, Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases. This results in the formation of amyloid fibrils, protein aggregates with distinct supramolecular chirality. A growing body of evidence suggests that lipids can alter rates of protein aggregation. In this study, we investigated whether lipids could alter the supramolecular chirality of amyloid fibrils. We found that if present at the stage of protein aggregation, phospho- and sphingolipids uniquely reversed supramolecular chirality of insulin and lysozyme fibrils. Furthermore, amyloid fibrils with opposite supramolecular chirality exerted distinctly different cell toxicity. Specifically, insulin and lysozyme fibrils with reversed supramolecular chirality were less toxic to cells than the aggregates with normal supramolecular chirality. These findings point on the important role of lipids and supramolecular chirality of amyloid fibrils in the onset and progression of amyloid diseases.