Narrow Results

Spinal cord injury is a devastating neurological disease in desperate need of a cure. We have previously shown that overexpression of the adhesion molecule L1 contributes to locomotor recovery after injury and were therefore interested in how electro-acupuncture would influence the expression of this molecule. Here, we investigated the effects of electro-acupuncture at “Jiaji” points (EX-B2), newly established by us, in young adult mice to determine whether improved recovery via electro-acupuncture could be due to enhanced L1 expression. Locomotor function, as evaluated by the Basso Mouse Scale score and by catwalk gait parameters, was improved by electro-acupuncture at different time points after injury in parallel with enhanced levels of L1 expression. Interestingly, the levels of the astrocytic marker glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) were also increased, but only in the early phase after injury, being reduced at later stages during recovery. Acupuncture alone showed less pronounced changes in expression of these molecules. We propose that electro-acupuncture improves regeneration in part by promoting the L1 expression and beneficial activation of stem cells, and by differentially modulating the expression of GFAP by promoting regeneration-conductive astrocytic responses at initial stages and reducing regeneration-adversive activation in the secondary stages. Expression of the stem cell marker nestin was upregulated by electro-acupuncture in the acute stage. The combined observations show for the first time in mice the beneficial functions of electro-acupuncture at Jiaji points in the spinal cord injury mouse model and provide novel insights into some molecular mechanisms underlying electro-acupuncture in spinal cord injury.

We have performed the calculation of kaon regeneration based on the exact solution of equations of motion. The result differs radically from the previous one.

$K^0{\bar{K}}^0$ transitions in a medium followed by decay and regeneration of $K_S^0$-component are considered by means of perturbation theory. It is shown that in the previous calculations the problem different from regeneration is solved.

The regeneration mechanism of ion-exchange resins in the electrodeionization process has been studied with theoretical and experimental investigation. Theoretically, contact forms of resins and membranes can be divided into 4 types, and the possible places of water-splitting are located at the contact faces of different types resins and membranes, for example, cation ion-exchange resins contact with anion ion-exchange resins or membranes, anion ion-exchange resins contact with cation ion-exchange resins and membranes, according to the theoretical calculation. And the exhausted ion-exchange resins can be regenerated by the electrodeionization process with the regeneration efficiency at 70–80% in this work.

The aim of this study was to seek more potent evidences of collateral sprouting for both motor and sensory nerve fibres after end-to-side neurorrhaphy using a modified double-labelling retrograde tracing method and to investigate the function of regenerated motor axons with electrophysiological evaluation. Four groups (n=4 for each group) were used: end-to-end coaptation (six months postoperatively), end-to-side coaptation (four months and six months postoperatively) and normal control. Two fluorescent tracers (true blue and diamidino yellow) were applied to the proximal ends of tibial and common peroneal nerves, respectively after four or six months of nerve coaptation. Five days later, we only found single-labelled motor and sensory neurons in the normal and end-to-end coaptation groups, while some dual-labelled neurons can be identified in end-to-side coaptation groups. Four months after surgery, the motor nerve conduction velocity in end-to-side coaptation was significantly slower than in the normal control. But no difference was found in the sixth month. These results suggest that end-to-side neurorrhaphy can induce the functional collateral sprouting of both motor and sensory axons in the peripheral nerve.

Recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) (0, 0.1, 1, or 5 μg) was injected into the autogeneous semitendinosus tendon, and the tendon was transplanted to the region of the medial meniscus defect in a rabbit model to repair the defect. Cartilaginous transformation of the tendon by rhBMP-2 was expected under the less-vascularized intra-articular environment. At four and eight weeks after surgery, the left knee joints were harvested, and the morphological changes of the graft were examined by radiological, histological, and immunohistochemical methods. Cartilaginous tissue within the graft was detected by Safranin O staining and immunostaining of Type-II collagen. At four weeks, fibrocartilagenous tissue, together with small ossicles, was consistently noted in tendon autografts that were injected with 1 or 5 μg of rhBMP-2. At eight weeks, the cartilage located at the basal part of the graft adjacent to the joint capsule was partially replaced with ectopic bone in the 1-μg or 5-μg groups. The ossicles might have been formed by vascular invasion into the rhBMP-2-induced cartilage, but the cartilageous structure remained at the peripheral part of the graft and filled the meniscus defect. The experimental results indicate the potential use of rhBMP-2 in regenerating the cartilaginous meniscus if additional methods to suppress vascular invasion into the rhBMP-2–induced cartilage also inhibit ossification.

This study in rabbit knees was carried out to clarify the effect of the application of CPM, after meniscectomy, on the regeneration rate of the meniscus and histology of the regenerated menisci. Twenty-seven mature rabbits were used: three rabbits as control (non-CPM) and 24 rabbits as experimental ones. Among them, four rabbits were used as the immediate CPM group and 20 rabbits as the delayed CPM group. In each animal, the medial meniscus was totally excised from the right knee, and the lateral meniscus was totally excised from the left knee. In three control animals, 16 weeks after meniscectomy, there was (hold) Grade II to III meniscal regeneration in two, and small meniscal mold was formed in one. In the immediate CPM group, meniscal regeneration failed and there was would disruption in all four knees. In the delayed CPM group, grades II to III regeneration was observed in 15 of the 20 medial meniscectomized knees, while in the lateral meniscectomized knees, the same size of meniscal regeneration was observed only in 3 of the 20 knees. The regenerated menisci in the delayed CPM group overall looked normal in appearance. Application of the delayed CPM induced the early fibrocartilaginous metaplasia of the regenerated fibrous menisci even at 6 to 12 weeks after meniscectomy.

It is speculated that the application of delayed CPM promotes early focal fibrocartilagenous metaplasia of the fibrous meniscus following meniscectomy.

Novel Topical Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplant Paradigm to Treat Organ Diseases.

The Potential of Stem Cell Therapy for Brain Repair and Regeneration Following Neurotrauma.

Liver Regeneration Enables Miracle of Liver Transplantation.

Bone Healing from Within

How Technology Helps in Care Coordination: Telehealth?

Soft Wearable Machines for Robot-Assisted Rehabilitation

Technology Can Help Patients Find Doctors and Share Medical Data

Seizing Opportunity in Asia-Pacific's Complex and Rapidly Changing Medical Device Market

How Logistics Technology Can Treat Tomorrow's Life Sciences & Healthcare Complications

Lab-grown meat: Better for you and the environment.

Regenerative medicine: The future of healing.

In recent times, zebrafish has garnered lot of popularity as model organism to study human cancers. Despite high evolutionary divergence from humans, zebrafish develops almost all types of human tumors when induced. However, mechanistic details of tumor formation have remained largely unknown. Present study is aimed at analysis of repertoire of kinases in zebrafish proteome to provide insights into various cellular components. Annotation using highly sensitive remote homology detection methods revealed "substantial expansion" of Ser/Thr/Tyr kinase family in zebrafish compared to humans, constituting over 3% of proteome. Subsequent classification of kinases into subfamilies revealed presence of large number of CAMK group of kinases, with massive representation of PIM kinases, important for cell cycle regulation and growth. Extensive sequence comparison between human and zebrafish PIM kinases revealed high conservation of functionally important residues with a few organism specific variations. There are about 300 PIM kinases in zebrafish kinome, while human genome codes for only about 500 kinases altogether. PIM kinases have been implicated in various human cancers and are currently being targeted to explore their therapeutic potentials. Hence, in depth analysis of PIM kinases in zebrafish has opened up new avenues of research to verify the model organism status of zebrafish.

The power conversion efficiency of p-type dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) is determined by the kinetics of hole injection and dye-regeneration reaction at the dye/electrolyte interface. In this work, the photochemical regeneration kinetics of dye adsorbed on CuCrO₂ mesoporous film was investigated by using scanning electrochemical microscopy with feedback mode. Organic P1 and C343 sensitizers in combination with iodide-based and thiolate-based electrolytes were selected to understand the effect of sensitizers and redox shuttles on dye-regeneration process. A fast regeneration kinetic rate constant was confirmed in thiolate-based sample compared with iodide-based electrolyte, indicating that the organic redox shuttle was an efficient mediator to optimize the performance of p-type DSSC.

MIL-101(Cr)/AC was synthesized by in situ incorporation of activated carbon powder via hydrothermal method. The water stability, n-hexane adsorption and regeneration of the MIL-101(Cr)/AC were experimentally measured. The results showed that the MIL-101(Cr)/AC exhibited the larger surface area (3319.3m²/g) than that of MIL-101(Cr) and AC, respectively. The addition of activated carbon was beneficial to improve the yield of MIL-101(Cr)/AC. The pore structure parameter and XRD of the MIL-101(Cr)/AC changed little after in water for 24h. Furthermore, the adsorption capacity of MIL-101(Cr)/AC for n-hexane was 786mg/g, which increased to 23.0% and 27.7% compared with MIL-101(Cr) and AC, respectively. Kinetic fitting of data indicated that the pseudo-first order model can more accurately describe the adsorption process of n-hexane on MIL-101(Cr)/AC and the intraparticle diffusion was not the sole rate-controlling step. Besides, the regeneration efficiency of MIL-101(Cr)/AC was over 92% after 10 consecutive n-hexane adsorption/desorption cycles.

Most of life maintains itself through turnover, namely cell proliferation, movement and elimination. Hydra’s cells, for example, disappear continuously from the ends of tentacles, but these cells are replenished by cell proliferation within the body. Inspired by such a biological fact, and together with various operations of polynomials, I here propose polynomial-life model toward analysis of some phenomena in multicellular organisms. Polynomial life consists of multicells that are expressed as multivariable polynomials. A cell is expressed as a term of polynomial, in which point $(m,n)$ is described as a term $x^m{y}^n$ and the condition is described as its coefficient. Starting with a single term and following reductions by set of polynomials, I simulate the development from a cell to a multicell. In order to confirm uniqueness of the eventual multicell-pattern, Gröbner base can be used, which has been conventionally used to ensure uniqueness of normal form in the mathematical context. In this framework, I present various patterns through the polynomial-life model and discuss patterns maintained through turnover. Cell elimination seems to play an important role in turnover, which may shed some light on cancer or regenerative medicine.

One of the major limitations in producing transgenic soybeans using the agrobacterium-mediated cotyledonary-node method is low regeneration frequency. An improved highly efficient regeneration system of soybean was established herein. Cotyledonary node explants were placed in shoot initiation medium with single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) for adventitious shoots regeneration, and adventitious shoots were subcultured in shoot elongation medium with SWNT for shoot elongation and rooting. 40 mg/L SWNT supplemented in shoot initiation medium was found to be the optimal concentration with shoots regeneration frequency significantly increased by 21.5% compared with the control treatment, while for 4 mg/L and 400 mg/L, the increase was 4.6% and 6.5%, respectively. Faster elongation and rooting of adventitious shoots was observed in shoot elongation medium with 40 mg/L SWNT. Soybean plantlet formation frequency within the limited four weeks supplemented with 40 mg/L SWNT reached 48.4% while in the other three treatments: 4 mg/L, 400 mg/L and control, 0% were observed. These results indicate that supplement of SWNT in the soybean medium can efficiently promote adventitious shoots formation frequency, increase plantlet formation frequency and shorten the regeneration period.

The desiccant rotor is the most essential component of desiccant cooling system, but one of its drawbacks to spread out is its rotor size. To reduce the size of rotor the analysis of rotor performance is crucial. Systematic examination on the effect of desiccant and channel geometrics has been conducted based on the numerical program previously developed. Considered parameters related to channel geometrics are channel shape and cross-section area of channel, and parameters related to desiccant are mass fraction, heat capacity, density, maximum water uptake and separation factor of isotherm. Considerable reduction of rotor size is expected by adjusting the parameters.

A mathematical model for predicting the performance of a desiccant wheel with purge sector has been used and heat and mass transfer for both moist air and the desiccant material have been considered. The model shows a good agreement with experimental results. Several studies have been done on using of purge sector in desiccant wheel. This paper also analyses the effect of purge sector by utilizing the output of purge air in regeneration and conduct a comparative performance analysis in both the directions of rotation (clockwise and anticlockwise) of desiccant wheel. It was found that for all the cases considered in this study like rotation of wheel, regeneration temperature, velocity and ambient moisture, the performance parameter results better in anticlockwise direction as compared to clockwise direction of rotation of the desiccant wheel. Mainly at low rph and low regeneration temperature effect of direction on the performance is more but at low ambient moisture and low velocity effect is less.

Neighborhoods and urban contexts are full of potential hidden inside them in an intangible form and can be used for their development and sustainability. Therefore, studying, discovering, and using them can help revive worn and historical textures. These mental factors include things not in the city’s outward appearance but in its heart and memory. The mindscape of the city includes everything that has meaning for its residents. Collective memories lead to strengthening their sense of belonging. The sense of belonging and collective memory is one factor that promotes social participation in the neighborhood and urban contexts. Social involvement is an efficient factor in facilitating neighborhood management, attracting investment, and helping environmental issues. Finally, it plays an influential role in sustaining life in urban contexts. Despite the plans that have been made to promote the sense of collective memory and increase the sense of belonging to the place, Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood has yet to achieve its growth and prosperity as in the past. Therefore, this paper focuses on studying how mindscape can help the sustainability and development of cities. The research method in this paper is based on document study, the review of documents related to prominent research in the fields of objective landscape, place identity, sense of place, and surface, and was carried out by descriptive-analytical research method. The method of collecting information is in two forms: documentary and field. Field information will be collected through two questionnaires (see Appendices A and B) from residents and experts. In this research, after reviewing and studying the documents and analyzing the field data, we present the proposed model of the influential factors of the mental landscape in the sustainability of urban contexts and draw the following conclusions: The concept of the mindscape holds significant importance in the context of creating sustainable cities and communities. It encompasses belonging, collective memories, and factors promoting social participation. Safeguarding and nurturing collective memory, the sense of place, belonging, and social participation are crucial in sustaining the mindscape and ensuring the long-term well-being of urban environments. By prioritizing these elements, cities and communities can foster a stronger connection between residents and their surroundings, resulting in a more vibrant and resilient urban fabric.

In studies of revitalizing historical cities, various factors and indicators have received significant attention. There are different theories and perspectives, each addressing specific aspects of the subject. Among these, there exists a holistic perspective. A holistic approach can have an influential impact on sustainable solutions in the revitalization of historic cities. Urban planning, with its tools, can contribute to providing a roadmap in this regard. Theoretical resources and research conducted in this regard have focused on identifying criteria and practical indicators for revitalizing historical areas. An urban planning approach with features such as storytelling and mediation can enhance the sense of place, belonging, and social participation. In urban planning, objective and subjective perspectives can comprehensively examine all factors influencing the rejuvenation of areas, which is effective in planning and managing revitalization projects. On the other hand, examining guidelines and recommendations provided by organizations and authorities such as UNESCO reflects the results and experiences of various global researches. These recommendations are based on principles instrumental in developing a comprehensive understanding of the sustainable revitalization of historic cities. Therefore, this research aims to provide a general and comprehensive overview of historic areas and their sustainable management principles. When dealing with historical cities, the following question arises: What are the general principles of revitalizing them, and what subcategories do they encompass? Studies on this topic show that the general classification of factors and principles of sustainable revitalization in historical cities can be summarized into five categories: history and heritage, economy and society, innovation and creativity, ecosystem and environment, and governance and governments. These principles and their subcategories should be examined and given attention from a functional perspective in four main formats. Some focus on why attention should be given to historical areas (Why?) and how to deal with them (How?). In contrast, others concentrate on the practical operational factors in cities (Who?) and their elements (What?). A descriptive-analytical research method was employed. Data collection was conducted through library research based on a review of relevant literature, documents, and extensive studies related to prominent research in the landscape, landscape perspectives, place identity, sense of place, and their various dimensions. Ultimately, using a qualitative content analysis approach, solutions for regenerating historical contexts from a landscape perspective are presented.

Degeneration of the intervertebral disc (IVD) and associated spinal disorders are a leading cause of morbidity resulting in substantial pain and increased health cost. Current treatment options may relieve some clinical symptoms but will never stop further degeneration in the IVD. In recent years, several investigations have been carried out trying to regenerate IVD tissue. These biomedical engineering methods aim to retard or even reverse the degenerative process and possibly regain a healthy IVD. In this review, recent progresses on each category of biomedical engineering approaches will be briefly introduced.