Matrikines of Sea Cucumbers: Structure, Biological Activity and Mechanisms of Action.

Matrikines (MKs), the products of enzymatic fragmentation of various extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, regulate cellular activity by interacting with specific receptors. MKs affect cell growth, proliferation, and migration, can induce apoptosis and autophagy, and are also effectively used in biomedicine and functional nutrition. Recently, there has been great interest in the structural features and biological activity of MKs from various sources.

Supermode lasing and light amplification in multicore bismuth-doped fiber.

Multicore fibers are promising structures with specific light propagation properties, which can be managed to benefit several applications in optical communications, fiber lasers and amplifiers, high-resolution imaging, and fiber-based sensors. The current use of multicore fibers in laser technology is mainly focused on in-phase coherent beam combining in far-field regions (out-cavity) using bulk optical elements. However, this approach is challenging in terms of the power scalability of all-fiber lasers (intra-cavity), particularly with using low-gain media, where it is needed to provide mode-coupling (supermode propagation) stability along relatively long lengths.

Cladding-pumped laser and amplifier for E- and S-bands based on multimode bismuth-doped graded-index fibers: toward "watt-level" output power.

In this Letter, we investigated the potential scalability of output power of a cladding-pumped laser and a power amplifier (booster) based on a multimode Bi-doped fiber (BDF) using the mode-selection approach. We fabricated the multimode double-clad graded-index (GRIN) fiber with a confined Bi-doped germanosilicate glass core with a diameter of ≈30 and ≈60 µm. Using femtosecond (fs) inscription technology with high spatial resolution, Bragg gratings of a special transverse structure allowing the selection of low-order modes were written into the core of BDFs.

Banded One-Anastomosis Gastric Bypass (BOAGB) for Patients Living with Obesity and Extreme Obesity: A Single Institution's Experience.

Background: The prevalence of patients suffering from extreme obesity (body mass index (BMI) ≥ 50) has significantly increased over the past three decades, surpassing the rise in the general population of overweight patients. Weight loss outcomes after bariatric surgery in patients suffering from extreme obesity are less favorable, with a higher incidence of weight regain. Variations of existing bariatric procedures have been proposed to address this issue.

Progression of obstructive sleep apnoea after renal denervation is not associated with hypertension exaggeration.

Purpose: In a cohort, observational prospective trial, we assessed the long-term dynamics of sleep-disordered breathing in patients with resistant hypertension after renal denervation and their association with blood pressure change at remote follow-up.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-eight patients with stable hypertension who were recruited for endovascular radiofrequency renal denervation in 2012-2019 and had valid both baseline and follow-up sleep study, were included in the analysis. All patients underwent physical examination, anthropometry, office and ambulatory blood pressure measurements, blood and urine tests, kidney visualization, and full polysomnography before and within 12-36 months after renal denervation.