Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic oral inflammatory disease of unknown etiology. According to reports, 1-2% of OLP patients develop oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) in the long run. While World Health Organization (WHO) classifies OLP as “a potentially malignant disorder,” it is still a matter of debate which mechanisms drive OLP to such a condition. The current hypothesis connecting OLP and OSCC is that chronic inflammation results in crucial DNA damage which over time results in cancer development. Initial studies investigating the OLP and OSCC link were mainly retrospective clinical studies. Over the past years, several amount of information has accumulated, mainly from molecular studies on the OLP malignant potential. This article is a critical review of whether OLP has a malignant potential and, therefore, represents a model of preneoplastic inflammation.

In this study, the synthesis of smart, polymerically embedded titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles aimed to exhibit photo-induced anticancer properties under visible light irradiation is investigated. The TiO2 nanoparticles were prepared by utilizing the sol gel method with different dopants, including nitrogen (N-doped), iron (Fe-doped), and nitrogen and iron (Fe,N-doped). The dopants were embedded in an interpenetrating (IP) network microgel synthesized by stimuli responsive poly (N-Isopropylacrylamide-co-polyacrylicacid)–pNipam-co-PAA forming composite particles. All the types of produced particles were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, micro-Raman, Fourier-transform infrared, X-ray photoelectron, ultra-violet-visible spectroscopy, Field Emission Scanning Electron, Transmission Electron microscopy, and Dynamic Light Scattering techniques. The experimental findings indicate that the doped TiO2 nanoparticles were successfully embedded in the microgel. The N-doped TiO2 nano-powders and composite particles exhibit the best photocatalytic degradation of the pollutant methylene blue under visible light irradiation. Similarly, the highly malignant MDA-MB-231 breast cancer epithelial cells were susceptible to the inhibition of cell proliferation at visible light, especially in the presence of N-doped powders and composites, compared to the non-metastatic MCF-7 cells, which were not affected.

Background: This study presents the development of three research tools of scientific creativity. Our aim is to evaluate the development of student creativity while students write digital stories. Three models are linked to create a new model, called Creative, Cognitive, Qualitative Model for Creativity (CCQ tool). Our research tool examines how creativity can be standardized, first by researchers' views and then by teachers and students' creative products. The first tool is based on two existing tools; the Scientific Creativity Structure Model (SCSM) and the TTCT Figural Subscales, and on new characteristics, the effective learning environments, as we have developed them in the CREATIONS Program. We have tried to expand this tool by combining its key elements to the theoretical framework of creativity, as we have approached it in the CREATIONS and the STORIES Programs. The second tool "Students' Creativity Evaluation Model" is a new tool that derives from empirical data and Grounded Theory methods. It examines the expected, original, and innovative ways of students' thinking. The third tool "Experts' Creativity Evaluation Model" allows us to examine the role of experts thinking on writing a story. It aims at tracking experts' model of thinking and is viewed in comparison to the students' creative model of thinking. We create a qualitative tool as we believe that a qualitative method delves deeper into students' internal mechanisms of creativity. Results: Twelve students' stories from classrooms of different countries which participate to STORIES Program are analyzed indicatively by two independent researchers. The results seem to indicate that digital storytelling increases scientific creativity among students. Conclusions: The main difference between expert and students' approaches is that experts' stories follow an up to bottom approach, while it is the opposite for students' creative process. It has to be mentioned that almost all of the stories combined science with creative thinking. Students transformed their personal values into stories; therefore, this creative procedure was influenced by social, cultural, and ethnographical characteristics. The contribution of our research is that it offers a research tool that not only measures creativity but also studies the cognitive mechanisms involved in creative thinking.

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A new human coronavirus, known as severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 syndrome (SARS-CoV-2), emerged at the end of 2019 in Wuhan, China, and we are now facing a pandemic (WHO, 2020). The virus has been found in saliva (