Zirconia, with its excellent mechanical strength and esthetics, has a growing potential for applications in dentistry and orthopedics. However, in order for zirconia to have a high affinity with bone tissue, the bioactivity of the surface must be further increased. In order to increase the bioactivity of zirconia, research was conducted to make a porous support or to fill the porous structure with nano-hydroxyapatite (nHA). In this case, there is a risk that physically filled nHA could be released depending on the living environment. In this study, nHA and type I collagen were introduced to the zirconia surface by chemical covalent bonding to increase bioactivity and ensure safety in the body. The chemical reaction of the surface was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. In addition, the biological activity was evaluated by examining the cytotoxicity and bone formation ability of the modified zirconia using osteoblasts. As a result, it was found that the bioactivity of the zirconia surface was greatly improved by immobilizing nHA and type I collagen.

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Nowadays many people use antibiotics to protect processed foods from many pathogenic bacteria. The abuse of antibiotics, however, can run the risk of creating resistant forms of bacterium. Our study focus is on making new substances that can not only replace antibiotics but also be friendly to the environment. In our experiments, we used fermented citrus fruit, soil microbes and coenzyme Q10 as probiotics and prebiotics. Chickens in the experimental group were fed these substances via oral route while those in the control group were not. After specific time periods, blood and feces samples were collected to test for Salmonella spp.. It is interesting that fermented citrus fruit was the most effective in suppressing this bacterium. Furthermore, dissection of the experiment group chickens shows that their livers did not change to a yellow color, in contrast to the control group. The results confirmed our proposal that the chickens fed with these materials can be protected from infection by Salmonella and other pathogens. These probiotics and prebiotics are highly practical because they are natural substances that can be easily recycled in the environment. It can also be used as an animal feed ingredient because of its safety.

Calvin scholars have disputed whether Calvin had the concept of deification.