Theoretical model of impact mitigation mechanisms inherent to the North American bison skull.

North American bison (Bovidae: Bison bison) incur blunt impacts to the interparietal and frontal bones when they engage in head-to-head fights. To investigate the impact mitigation of these bones, a finite element analysis (FEA) of the skull under loading conditions was performed. Based on anatomical and histological studies, the interparietal and frontal bones are both comprised of a combination of haversian and plexiform bone and are both underlain by bony septa.

A single dose of radiation elicits comparable acute salivary gland injury to fractionated radiation.

The salivary glands are often damaged during head and neck cancer radiotherapy. This results in chronic dry mouth, which adversely affects quality of life and for which there is no long-term cure. Mouse models of salivary gland injury are routinely used in regenerative research.

Outcomes of Aural Rehabilitation Provided in Person or by Telehealth Among Deaf/Hard of Hearing Young Children with Cochlear Implants or Hearing Aids.

Cochlear implants and hearing aids may facilitate the development of listening and spoken language (LSL) in deaf/hard of hearing young children, but they require aural rehabilitation therapy-often unavailable outside urban areas-for optimal outcomes. This trial assessed the relative effectiveness of LSL therapy delivered either in person or by interactive video. The hypothesis was that telehealth service delivery would be noninferior to in-person therapy.

Development of in situ forming implants for controlled delivery of punicalagin.

Due to efficient drainage of the joint, the development of intra-articular depots for long-lasting drug release is a difficult challenge. Moreover, a disease-modifying osteoarthritis drug (DMOAD) that can effectively manage osteoarthritis has yet to be identified. The current study was undertaken to explore the potential of injectable, in situ forming implants to create depots that support the sustained release of punicalagin, a promising DMOAD.

Interrogating Cell-Cell Interactions in the Salivary Gland via Ex Vivo Live Cell Imaging.

Salivary gland regeneration is a complex process involving intricate interactions among various cell types. Recent studies have shed light on the pivotal role played by macrophages in driving the regenerative response. However, our understanding of this critical role has primarily relied on static views obtained from fixed tissue biopsies.

Ex vivo biomechanical evaluation of a bone-screw-fastener for tibial plateau leveling osteotomy.

Introduction: The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of a novel screw type on stiffness and failure characteristics of a tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO) construct under cyclic loading conditions. The authors hypothesized that bone-screw-fasteners (BSF) would result in superior biomechanical stability compared with locking buttress screws (LBS).

Materials And Methods: Twelve pairs of canine cadaveric pelvic limbs were included in this biomechanical study.

Laser microgrooving and resorbable blast texturing for enhanced surface function of titanium alloy for dental implant applications.

Long-term dental implant success is dependent on biocompatibility and osseointegration between the bone and the implant. Surface modifications such as laser-induced microgrooving which increase contact area can enhance osseointegration by establishing and directing a stable attachment between the implant surface and peri-implant bone. The objective of this study was to evaluate pre-osteoblast proliferation, morphology, and differentiation on titanium alloy (Ti64) surfaces-Laser-Lok (LL), resorbable blast textured (RBT), and machined (M)-compared to tissue culture plastic (TCP) control.

Home-based video assessment of ease of movement for patients with Duchenne: Interviews with physical therapists to select movement tasks.

Background And Purpose: Patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) change their movement patterns to compensate for muscle weakness. The Duchenne Video Assessment (DVA) measures ease of movement through evaluation of compensatory movements. The DVA directs caregivers to video record patients performing home-based movement tasks using a mobile application, and DVA-certified physical therapists evaluate the videos using scorecards with prespecified compensatory movement criteria.

Comparison of the Capacitance of a Cyclically Fatigued Stretch Sensor to a Non-Fatigued Stretch Sensor When Performing Static and Dynamic Foot-Ankle Motions.

Motion capture is the current gold standard for assessing movement of the human body, but laboratory settings do not always mimic the natural terrains and movements encountered by humans. To overcome such limitations, a smart sock that is equipped with stretch sensors is being developed to record movement data outside of the laboratory. For the smart sock stretch sensors to provide valuable feedback, the sensors should have durability of both materials and signal.

Plant clonality in a soil-impoverished open ecosystem: insights from southwest Australian shrublands.

Background And Aims: Clonality is a key life-history strategy promoting on-spot persistence, space occupancy, resprouting after disturbance, and resource storage, sharing and foraging. These functions provided by clonality can be advantageous under different environmental conditions, including resource-paucity and fire-proneness, which define most mediterranean-type open ecosystems, such as southwest Australian shrublands. Studying clonality-environment links in underexplored mediterranean shrublands could therefore deepen our understanding of the role played by this essential strategy in open ecosystems globally.

Biomechanical Comparison of a Headless Compression Screw Fastener and AO Cortical Bone Screw for Fixation of a Simulated Equine Third Carpal Bone Slab Fracture.

Frontal plane slab fractures account for the majority of third carpal bone (C3) fractures in racing and performance horses. Recommended treatment is stabilization with a lagged AO cortical screw. Associated complications are fragment splitting, fragment spinning, and irritation of dorsal soft tissue structures.

Evaluation of Electrospun PCL-PLGA for Sustained Delivery of Kartogenin.

In this study, kartogenin was incorporated into an electrospun blend of polycaprolactone and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (1:1) to determine the feasibility of this system for sustained drug delivery. Kartogenin is a small-molecule drug that could enhance the outcome of microfracture, a cartilage restoration procedure, by selectively stimulating chondrogenic differentiation of endogenous bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. Experimental results showed that kartogenin did not affect the electrospinnability of the polymer blend, and it had negligible effects on fiber morphology and scaffold mechanical properties.

Inequalities through the lens of science.

Inequalities are ubiquitous in every society on Earth, and the COVID-2019 pandemic has exposed the marginalized communities that suffer the most. A warming planet will only magnify this gap. On the eve of the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, this Voices asks: how can science inform and address inequalities?

Cross-Platform Bayesian Optimization System for Autonomous Biological Assay Development.

Current high-throughput screening assay optimization is often a manual and time-consuming process, even when utilizing design-of-experiment approaches. A cross-platform, Cloud-based Bayesian optimization-based algorithm was developed as part of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) ASPIRE (A Specialized Platform for Innovative Research Exploration) Initiative to accelerate preclinical drug discovery. A cell-free assay for papain enzymatic activity was used as proof of concept for biological assay development and system operationalization.

Do media portrayals and social consensus information impact anti-fat attitudes and support for anti-weight discrimination laws and policies?

Although weight stigma and discrimination are associated with increased body dissatisfaction and eating disorder risk, reduced opportunities, and poorer well-being, there are few legal protections for such discrimination in the U.S. We addressed one barrier to enacting protective legislation - public attitudes toward anti-weight discrimination laws - by assessing the impact of media representations of fatness and information about peer attitudes.

Ex vivo biomechanical comparison of four Center of Rotation Angulation Based Leveling Osteotomy fixation methods.

Objective: To compare the strength of four constructs used to secure an osteotomy in a Center of Rotation Angulation (CORA)-Based Leveling Osteotomy (CBLO) in an ex vivo model.

Study Design: Ex vivo study.

Sample Population: Thirty-two canine tibiae from 17 skeletally mature cadavers weighing between 18 and 33.

Strengthening community connection and personal well-being through volunteering in New Zealand.

Volunteering is a way for people to develop meaningful relationships within a social group and can lead to the building of social capital, from which both individuals and the wider group can benefit in the form of enhanced well-being. This study aimed to explore and describe the impact of volunteering on the volunteer coordinators and volunteers themselves in the eastern suburbs of Christchurch, New Zealand, an area particularly impacted by the devastating earthquakes in the period 2010/2011. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews with volunteer coordinators and volunteers (n = 35; 16 men, 19 women) from November 2018 to mid-January 2019.

Syntheses and solid-state structures of two cofacial (bis)dipyrrin dichromium complexes in different charge states.

The dichromium Pacman complex (dmx)CrCl·CHO (1) [(dmx)H is a dimethylxanthene-bridged cofacial (bis)dipyrrin, CHNO] was synthesized by salt metathesis using anhydrous CrCl and previously reported (dmx)K. Treatment of 1 with two equivalents of the reductant potassium graphite afforded K(dmx)CrCl(thf)·0.5CHO·0.

Chronic endometritis in women with suspected retained products of conception and their reproductive outcomes.

Objective: To determine whether women who underwent operative hysteroscopy for suspected retained products of conception (rPOC) have histopathologic evidence of chronic endometritis (CE).

Design: Retrospective cohort.

Setting: Academic center.

Improving Safe Medication Administration in New RNs Using Simulation.

This study describes the use of simulation to increase medication administration knowledge and skill in new RNs enrolled in a residency program. The study sample consisted of 54 new RNs with less than 1 year of nursing experience who were enrolled in a nurse residency program, and it compared medication administration knowledge posttest scores between groups. The medication administration posttest scores for the simulation group were not significantly higher than the scores of the classroom-only group (p = .

Senescent cells and macrophages: key players for regeneration?

Over the last decade, our understanding of the physiological role of senescent cells has drastically evolved, from merely indicators of cellular stress and ageing to having a central role in regeneration and repair. Increasingly, studies have identified senescent cells and the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) as being critical in the regenerative process following injury; however, the timing and context at which the senescence programme is activated can lead to distinct outcomes. For example, a transient induction of senescent cells followed by rapid clearance at the early stages following injury promotes repair, while the long-term accumulation of senescent cells impairs tissue function and can lead to organ failure.

Effects of short-duration treatment of cartilage with punicalagin and genipin and the implications for treatment of osteoarthritis.

Punicalagin (PA) not only binds type II collagen, but also blocks its MMP-13-mediated degradation, and genipin (GNP) is a collagen cross-linking agent. We hypothesized that these drugs could mitigate the loss of cartilage if administered in the early phase of osteoarthritis, and experiments were designed to provide proof-of-concept. Porcine cartilage was exposed to both drugs in a manner designed to simulate intra-articular (IA) injection.