ABSTRACT
Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate otoscopic and microscopic changes produced on the healthy mucosa of the middle ear (ME) and tympanic membrane (TM) of guinea pigs after ...packing with a collagen polyvinylpyrrolidone (CPVP) sponge soaked in hyaluronic acid (HA). Material and methods: In 24 guinea pigs, myringotomy on the right side was created and the ME was packed as follows: Group I (n = 6): Absorbable gelatin sponge (AGS) soaked in saline solution; Group II (n = 6): AGS sponge soaked in HA, Group III (n = 6): CPVP sponge soaked in saline solution, Group IV (n = 6): CPVP sponge soaked in HA. Four weeks after miringotomy, the ME and TM integrity and residual packing material were evaluated otoscopically. Histologically, we evaluated inflammatory changes on the ME mucosa. Results: All animals in Groups I and II showed residual packing material (p < .001 ANOVA, TUKEY). Histologically, more inflammation was observed in Groups I, II, and III than in Group IV (p < .001 ANOVA, TUKEY). Group IV showed greater fibroblastic reaction (p < .02, ANOVA, TUKEY) versus other groups. Conclusion: The CPVP sponge soaked in HA used as ME packing material is biocompatible and nontoxic, because it produces minimal inflammatory changes on the healthy mucosa of the ME and TM of guinea pigs. However, more research with injured mucosa is needed to validate its usefulness in otosurgery.
Type II polydactyly is relatively easy to treat by simple ablation. Central wedge resection is an alternative treatment, providing sufficient bone and soft tissue are excised. Duplication at the MP ...joint may be difficult to treat because of the frequently associated problems of joint deviation and limited motion, which may produce unacceptable results. MP joint deviation in the ulnar direction of less than 30 degrees does not require treatment. Treatment may be necessary for ulnar deviation greater than 50 degrees. Metacarpal osteotomy, arthrodesis, and central wedge resection are methods of treatment. Collateral ligament reconstruction and tendon transfer were unsuccessful in one patient. IP joint deviation of greater than 15 degrees may need treatment. If there is less than 10 degrees of motion associated with it, arthrodesis is indicated when the joint is skeletally mature. When opposition is impaired thenar muscle tendon transfer is an effective treatment.
AIM:To re-evaluate the theory that colonic diverticulosis is associated with relapse of Clostridium difficile associated disease (CDAD) in light of data suggesting increasing rates of CDAD infection ...and relapse.METHODS: Charts were reviewed for patients with recurrent CDAD who had also had a prior colonoscopy or flexible sigmoidoscopy. An age and gender matched control group was used to compare the prevalence of diverticulosis.RESULTS: Twenty-two patients met the study criteria, and the prevalence of divert...
Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) (poly(3HB-co-3HHx)) thermoplastics are a promising biodegradable alternative to traditional plastics for many consumer applications. Biodegradation ...measured by gaseous carbon loss of several types of poly(3HB-co-3HHx) plastic was investigated under anaerobic conditions and aerobic seawater environments. Under anaerobic conditions, the biodegradation levels of a manufactured sheet of poly(3HB-co-3HHx) and cellulose powder were not significantly different from one another over 85 days with 77.1 ± 6.1 and 62.9 ± 19.7% of the carbon converted to gas, respectively. However, the sheet of poly(3HB-co-3HHx) had significantly higher methane yield (p ≤ 0.05), 483.8 ± 35.2 mL·g–1 volatile solid (VS), compared to cellulose controls, 290.1 ± 92.7 mL·g–1 VS, which is attributed to a greater total carbon content. Under aerobic seawater conditions (148–195 days at room temperature), poly(3HB-co-3HHx) sheets were statistically similar to cellulose for biodegradation as gaseous carbon loss (up to 83% loss in about 6 months), although the degradation rate was lower than that for cellulose. The microbial diversity was investigated in both experiments to explore the dominant bacteria associated with biodegradation of poly(3HB-co-3HHx) plastic. For poly(3HB-co-3HHx) treatments, Cloacamonales and Thermotogales were enriched under anaerobic sludge conditions, while Clostridiales, Gemmatales, Phycisphaerales, and Chlamydiales were the most enriched under aerobic seawater conditions.
Wastewater surveillance for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has garnered extensive public attention during the coronavirus disease pandemic as a proposed complement to ...existing disease surveillance systems. Over the past year, methods for detection and quantification of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA in untreated sewage have advanced, and concentrations in wastewater have been shown to correlate with trends in reported cases. Despite the promise of wastewater surveillance, for these measurements to translate into useful public health tools, bridging the communication and knowledge gaps between researchers and public health responders is needed. We describe the key uses, barriers, and applicability of SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance for supporting public health decisions and actions, including establishing ethics consideration for monitoring. Although wastewater surveillance to assess community infections is not a new idea, the coronavirus disease pandemic might be the initiating event to make this emerging public health tool a sustainable nationwide surveillance system, provided that these barriers are addressed.
Nanoprocessing of materials using ultrashort laser pulses involves a number of concurrent fundamental physical processes. Due to different time and spatial scales of activation, however, these ...processes are difficult to study within the frames of a single computational model on one hand, and yet not possible to isolate in the experimental analysis on the other hand. In their detailed investigation, the transient character of the nonequilibrium states of matter induced with a short laser pulse hampers the applicability of continuum approaches, but classical molecular dynamics simulations are usually limited in the system sizes. In this work, a molecular dynamics based model coupled to a continuum description of the photo-excited free carrier’s dynamics and implemented in parallel algorithm is extended to the scale directly accessible in the experiment. This allows for the first time a direct comparison to experimental data. The essential mechanisms responsible for the short laser pulse surface nanostructuring are analyzed in the complex dynamics of competing processes simultaneously involved into the nanostructures generation process. The modeling and experiment show a very good agreement and predict a new opportunity for fabrication of nanoparticle structures and the surface subpatterning.
Histones are subject to numerous post-translational modifications. Some of these 'epigenetic' marks recruit proteins that modulate chromatin structure. For example, heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) ...binds to histone H3 when its lysine 9 residue has been tri-methylated by the methyltransferase Suv39h (refs 2-6). During mitosis, H3 is also phosphorylated by the kinase Aurora B
. Although H3 phosphorylation is a hallmark of mitosis, its function remains mysterious. It has been proposed that histone phosphorylation controls the binding of proteins to chromatin, but any such mechanisms are unknown. Here we show that antibodies against mitotic chromosomal antigens that are associated with human autoimmune diseases specifically recognize H3 molecules that are modified by both tri-methylation of lysine 9 and phosphorylation of serine 10 (H3K9me3S10ph). The generation of H3K9me3S10ph depends on Suv39h and Aurora B, and occurs at pericentric heterochromatin during mitosis in different eukaryotes. Most HP1 typically dissociates from chromosomes during mitosis, but if phosphorylation of H3 serine 10 is inhibited, HP1 remains chromosome-bound throughout mitosis. H3 phosphorylation by Aurora B is therefore part of a 'methyl/phos switch' mechanism that displaces HP1 and perhaps other proteins from mitotic heterochromatin.
Abstract Strong age-related declines in conjunction with comparatively easy experimental manipulations of adult hippocampal neurogenesis have generated considerable public and scientific interest in ...the prospect of “new neurons for old brains”. Only few studies addressed the time course of the natural changes, which are the substrate for interventions that may realize this prospect. We provide a monthly or bimonthly account of cell proliferation, neurogenesis and cell death during the first 9 months of the life of C57Bl/6J mice. Ki67- and DCX-positive cell numbers declined exponentially without an intermittent plateau (∼40% per month). Cell death in relation to cell proliferation was lowest at 1 month, increased at 2 months to remain constant until 4 months, and decreased again at 5 months to remain stable until 9 months. Granule cell number did not change with age. Our results suggest that manipulations of proliferation and neurogenesis may, at any time, interact with strong natural changes of these processes. Mediators of their age-related decline may be studied over periods much shorter than those typically used.
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