Autologous fat grafting and methods of purification of harvested tissue have become one of the most current themes in regenerative medicine. The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro ...regenerative potential of abdomen lipoaspirates subjected to a combined washing‐decantation purifying procedure, the Lull pgm System (Lull). Blood cells and stromal‐vascular fraction (SVF) cells contained in the aspirates were investigated and compared with those obtained through more conventional fat‐processing methods, that is, the decantation and Coleman's centrifugation techniques. The lowest number of erythrocytes, which are proinflammatory cells, was observed in the Lull samples, corresponding to about 50% of those isolated by decantation and centrifugation. The highest amount of SVF cells were isolated from the Lull samples whose number of colony forming units, representative of the amount of adipose‐derived stem cells (ADSCs), was about fourfold and sixfold higher than in the decantation and centrifugation samples, respectively. Adipocyte and osteoblast commitment of SVF cells obtained from all the three procedures also confirmed that the subpopulation of ADSCs was actively represented in the processed aspirates. Moreover, the growth rate of the SVF cells was more accentuated in the samples obtained from decantation and Lull than centrifugation. In conclusion, Lull seems to be the best processing technique for adipose tissue graft with respect to decantation and centrifugation, because it clears more efficiently the fat from proinflammatory blood cells and provides the greatest number of proliferating SFV cells and ADSCs.
Atom interferometry represents a quantum leap in the technology for the ultra-precise monitoring of accelerations and rotations and, therefore, for the science that relies on these quantities. These ...sensors evolved from a new kind of optics based on matter-waves rather than light-waves and might result in an advancement of the fundamental detection limits by several orders of magnitude. This paper describes the current status of the Space Atom Interferometer project (SAI), funded by the European Space Agency. In a multi-pronged approach, SAI aims to investigate both experimentally and theoretically the various aspects of placing atom interferometers in space: the equipment needs, the realistically expected performance limits and potential scientific applications in a micro-gravity environment considering all aspects of quantum, relativistic and metrological sciences. A drop-tower compatible atom interferometry acceleration sensor prototype has been designed, and the manufacturing of its subsystems has been started. A compact modular laser system for cooling and trapping rubidium atoms has been assembled. A compact Raman laser module, featuring outstandingly low phase noise, has been realized. Possible schemes to implement coherent atomic sources in the atom interferometer have been experimentally demonstrated.
•Perforator flap surgery can be successfully taught in living tissues, whose quality is optimal and difficulties are similar to the ones in humans.•We describe a sequence of perforator flaps and ...dissection exercises that can be performed in pigs.•This sequence includes previously described techniques and new ones that reproduce clinical situations in humans.•The sequence can be successfully performed, during a course, by students not trained in perforator flap surgery.
The training to learn how to perform perforator flaps requires practice on a living model to optimize dissection and to evaluate outcome. The purpose of this study was to describe a training model that optimizes the use of animals in order to perform the maximum number of exercises per animal.
The sequence has been planned and practiced by the first and last author, recorded perfected and implemented in a two-day surgical course. The sequence was then evaluated by the trainers and the trainees by means of a questionnaire.
All students were able to complete the sequence of exercises before the end of the second day except two (8/10) who could not complete one exercise each. The students considered the Deep Superior Epigastric Artery Perforator flap the most difficult to perform, being the most technically demanding. The sequence of exercises was judged either easily reproducible or reproducible by all the students. Two students suggested to postpone the DSEAP flap to the second day, after some training, to optimize the experience with the most challenging and rewarding flap.
The training sequence proposed offers a wide range of exercises and allows four trainees, divided in two teams, to work and learn on the same animal. They can perform a wide range of flaps and also harvest the internal mammary vessels. The living model allows for evaluation of the quality of the surgical performance, judged by the difficulties and complications encountered during dissection, and finally through the feedback of flap perfusion.
A well-known diffuse interface model consists of the Navier-Stokes equations nonlinearly coupled with the convective Cahn-Hilliard equation. This system describes the evolution of an incompressible ...isothermal Newtonian mixture of binary fluids. In this article we investigate a variant of this model, which consists of the nonhomogeneous Kelvin-Voigt equations coupled with the Cahn-Hilliard equations. We prove the existence of global weak and strong solutions in a two and three dimensions. Furthermore, we prove some regularity results for the strong solutions and show their uniqueness in both two or three-dimensional bounded domains. Lastly, we also solve a problem of uniqueness of regular solutions that was left open by Giorgini and Temam (2020) 6.
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Improving the sensing capabilities of miniaturized probes nanofabricated on the tip of optical fibers is crucial for a large number of sensing applications in remote and harsh ...environ-ments. While most research efforts are directed towards developing improved fabrications techniques or more sensitive structures, we show that the performance of these sensors can be significantly enhanced by designing an appropriate interrogation strategy. In our scheme, a nanostructured plasmonic fiber probe is included in an optical fiber resonator and interrogated with a single-mode laser. A wavelength shift of the plasmonic resonance generates a mismatch of the resonator optical impedance, which is monitored and actively compensated by an optoelectronic gain element. We characterize the technique using samples with different refractive index and compare its performance to a conventional sensing scheme. Our cavity-enhanced configuration leads to a 50-fold improvement of the probe’s refractive index resolution (corresponding to a detection limit of 10−5 RIU, the lowest reported so far for this type of sensors). The demonstrated measurement scheme can be devised with any fiber-optic sensor that responds with a resonance shift or with an attenuation of the transmitted/reflected intensity.
Populations of regulatory T cells (Tregs) control autoimmune and allergic immunopathology induced by self or foreign antigens. Several types of CD4+ MHC class II–restricted Treg populations have been ...characterized, but the biology of CD8+, MHC class I–restricted Tregs is less understood. We show here that CD8+ Tregs are rapidly generated in the presence of IL-4 and IL-12, produce IL-10, and exhibit a unique cell-surface phenotype with coexpression of activation and naive cell-associated markers. They block activation of naive or effector T cells and suppress IgG/IgE antibody responses and graft-versus-host disease in vivo. Suppression is dependent on cell contact and mediated by direct T-cell–T-cell interaction that antagonizes T-cell–receptor (TCR) signals. The data establish the existence of a CD8 T-cell suppressor effector subset distinct in both phenotype and function from T cytotoxic 1 (Tc1) and Tc2 cells. Production of such CD8 Tregs has potential for cell-based therapy of CD4 or CD8 T-cell–mediated disease.
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